L'esprit de l'escalier
by Tusk Act IV
Summary: In which Kirigiri Kyoko realizes she is terrible as usual at guessing computer passwords. For Kirigiri's Birthday.
1. Side: Despair

**Disclaimer: I own neither the series nor the story. This is an adapted from of のパスワードと数日遅れのbirthday by shot1006**

* * *

Cough. Cough.

Cough Cough.

The sound of heavy coughing echoed throughout a certain apartment within the Future Foundation's 14th branch division's dormitory. The apartment was a rather simple one with amenities not unlike one would expect a single person apartment would contain. A bathroom, a living space, a small kitchen, and, of course, a bedroom.

The sole occupant of the apartment was currently lying on the room's sole bed. A blanket lay over his body while a cold towel laid over his head. His cheeks were flushed red and there was a lack of focus in his green eyes. Only the sound of coughing came from his mouth, a medicinal mask preventing the germs from spreading to the room's other occupants.

Indeed, NaegiMakoto has seen better days.

"Are you okay, Naegi-cchi?", Hagakure Yasuhiro asked. Even if the question was unneeded and could be answered simply by taking one glance at the man, there was still a clear tone of worry in the fortuneteller's voice.

"His temperature just now read 38 degrees. Symptoms include a headache, heavy cough, and a runny nose. A cold." Kirigiri Kyoko stared at the reading of the thermometer in her gloved hand as if her stare could will the numbers to go lower. Her lips curved to a small disappointed frown "Why did he even bother going to work this morning?"

"Tch. Can't he even manage his own body?" reprimanded Togami Byakuya, arms folded, to no one in particular. "Did he go frolicking in the rain or something?"

Kirigiri shifted her stare from the thermometer to Togami, her eyes narrowing. Even the scion had arguably gotten softer over the years, she had to disagree with his tone especially when Naegi was sick. However, before she reply a comeback, the sound of approaching footsteps came from the outside of the bedroom.

"Naegi! Are you still alive?!"

The door of the bedroom was vigorously opened. Asahina Aoi jumped into the already crowded bedroom a bulging plastic bag in her hand.

"Oh, Asahina-cchi!" Hagakure was the first to wave at the newcomer which was returned by the bubbly woman. "You came all the way here for a visit. Is your branch leader cool with it?"

Again, Hagakure and his obvious questions.

"Yup, Chief's nice enough to let me have a quick visit" Asahina nodded and raised the plastic bag she held in her hand. "Got some fruits on the way over and some cold Medicine from Kimura-san of the 4th branch. I heard it's some really effective stuff. Here Kyouko-chan!"

The swimmer passed bottle of medicine to Kirigiri who simply placed it on the stand next to the bed. Naegi turned to her, head heavy, and mouthed a thank you. Kirigiri was the one who voiced it. "Thank you, Asahina-san. This should help out. Although, you did not have to go all the way here just to deliver it."

"It's no problem. We don't get to see each other enough! Last time really reminded me how much I missed you guys." waved the tan woman smiling before shifting to a pout. "Really, why am I the only one who's part of a different division?"

"For once, I have to agree with you."

"Really?!" Asahina turned in surprise to the only person yet to acknowledge her arrival.

"Indeed," Togami Byakuya pushed up the rim of his glasses, a sneer on his lips. "I'd rather that I was in charge of another division instead of having to work with the rest of you."

"That I don't miss." Already used to Togami's…Togami-ness, Asahina rolled her eyes at the remark before turning to Naegi with a pointed finger.

"You'd better hurry up and get better Naegi! You shouldn't make Kyoko-chan worry so much!"

The sick Naegi smiled before speaking. "I'll make sure to. Thank you, Asahina-san."

"Um!" The swimmer bopped in place, clenched fits in front of her in a guts pose. "And after you get better, we should all hang out to celebrate your recovery."

"Yeah, we should," agreed Naegi before erupting in a few heavy coughs.

"Well, if you need help just call me anytime!" Asahina waved to the rest of her friends, turning back.

"Oh, leaving already, Asahina-cchi?"

"Yeah, Chief still needs something from me so I can't stay long." Apologized the woman. She was already jogging in place, a habit from her dislike of staying put.

"Then, till next time!" Hagakure waved. Kirigiri smiled. Even Togami gave her a nod.

"Next time! Get better Naegi!" And with one last wave she left the room as fast as she had arrived.

"A noisy woman as usual," muttered Togami. He glanced at the medicine on the table "Well at least she has her uses. I've heard of the effectiveness Seiko Kimura's medicines. Naegi, make sure to take it so I confirm the truth myself."

Agreeing with the scion, Kirigiri reached for the medicine but someone beat her to it.

"Hol' up! Let me take care of Naegi-cchi!" Hagakure held up the bottle of medicine before reading the label for instructions. He uncapped the bottle and let two pills fall into his hand. He then handed them to Naegi along with a nearby glass of water. "Says here two pills every four hours. Here you go, little dude, drink this up."

Naegi did just that with the older man helping him sit up by supporting his upper body. With a thank you, Naegi lied back down.

"See, no problem!" Hagakure exclaimed to the other two occupants of the room. "I got this! My mom was a nurse so some of that got passed down."

Togami and Kirigiri didn't even need to exchange a glance to know they were both thinking the same thing.

"You just want to skip."

"Please don't use Naegi-kun's condition as an excuse to escape from work. I'll dock your pay."

"W-what! How can you two say that! I'm really worried about Naegi-cchi, you know! I bet if I did a reading right now you'd see that-"

"Hagakure-kun." Hagakure turned to the sick Naegi. "It's nice that you want to stay but I think I'd like to rest soon so please be quiet."

"Even Naegi-cchi!? Is it cause of your cold!?"

"Quiet!" snarled Togami which Hagakure immediately followed. He spared a scrutinizing gaze to the figure in bed. "It's better if you rest soon so you can get back to work. Don't waste our time."

"Haha." Naegi smiled. He was already used to the rough demeanor of the blonde or maybe it was just the cold." Thank you for coming to visit even if you were busy, Togami-kun."

"Hmph. I'll be heading back to the office. Kirigiri, you're the branch leader. Take better care of your branch members. And Naegi, don't forget you still have a report for headquarters pertaining on your pet project." And without another word, Togami Byakuya left the room.

At his words, the luckster immediately sat up, his eyes wide. "That's right! The report-"

Whatever else he was about to say was interrupted by a fit of coughing. Hagakure moved close to him to give his back a few pats.

"Don't worry, Naegi-kun." Kirigiri spoke up after the coughs subsided. "I believe I know what report he's talking about. I'll do it instead."

"No way, Kirigiri-san! You can't when it's my fault for getting sick." protested Naegi. "I mean, you're even my boss!"

Kirigiri could only wonder where he got the energy to be so stubborn. "Nonsense. It should be no problem especially in your condition."

"But, most of it's already done. I stayed up all night doing it on my computer back at the branch." Naegi then pouted in a way that should not have worked at his age but somehow just worked

"Is that so? Then we can't let your work go to waste." A small smile with a tinge of pride settled on the once detective's lips. "I'll look it up and send it to headquarters after giving it a brief look through."

"Thanks, Kirigiri-san." With one last warm smile sent her way, Naegi laid back on the bed and closed his eyes, clearly looking to finally rest. It only took a few seconds before light snoring was heard.

"Oo, Looks like he's asleep. That was quick." Hagakure rubbed his chin as he observed the sleeping Naegi.

"I'm sure it's the effects of the cold medicine working out." Kirigiri did the same. There was a small urge in her to wipe away the bangs of Naegi's hair that clung to his forehead with sweat. She ignored it. "Hagakure. Please prepare a basin to wipe away Naegi-kun's sweat."

"Ay ay, boss!" With a mock salute, the dreadlock wearing man left the room, leaving Kirigiri and the sleeping Naegi alone.

As she looked at his peaceful sleeping face riddled with sweat, Kirigiri couldn't help but think back to the only other time she had seen the same face. It was back during the school killing game when they were all still locked in Hope's Peak. Back then, he was also indisposed by a fever. It was only her ability as a Kirigiri that she was able to know that Enoshima Junko had about to kill the boy as he laid in bed defenseless. She had rushed in to help him and prevented his murder.

' _No, that's not it.'_

Kirigiri thought back to whole story. At the same time, everyone else, Togami, Hagakure, Fukawa, and Asahina were examining a broken Monokuma in the gymnasium. Looking back, it was clear that Enoshima must have left it there for all four of them to find.

If Naegi wasn't sick, it would've been obvious that he would have gone with the other four. This would've allowed him to share everyone else's alibi at the time of the supposed murder. And then, when the body of Ikusaba Mukuro would be discovered, only she, who was investigating the second floor of the dormitory at the time, would be easily singled out as the blackened.

What were even the chances he'd get a high fever at the time? Kirigiri hadn't noticed any signs of fever before that. It didn't seem like Enoshima Junko had planned it as it only made everything harder to execute her. She may have instead changed her plan to kill Naegi instead but did not expect Kirigiri to save him. Was it really his talent as the Ultimate Luckster?

' _To think you were already saving me even before the trial.'_ Kirigiri watched Naegi. His expression was much gentler than earlier. _'Yet it seems it's only at the cost of your health.'_

"…I hope you get well, Naegi-kun." With those last words, she turned away from Naegi's sleeping face only to notice the grinning one of Hagakure, a basin filled with water in his hands and a towel hanging from his arm.

"…?" Kirigiri sent him a sharp inquisitive glare but that only seemed to make the man's grin widen.

"I just thought it's a shame Naegi-cchi couldn't see the gentle expression you're showing him. It's different from the usual, Kirigi-cchi!"

"…What? Gentle?" This time he was able to get a word out of her in surprise. Make it known this would be the only time Hagakure Yasuhiro would surprise Kirigiri Kyouko. And this is after being accused of being a ghost.

"Don't you think it's okay to open yourself up more, Kirigi-cchi? Not just to Naegi-cchi but to everyone else. No, maybe, especially to Naegi-cchi. I've noticed you're especially conscious about hiding your expressions when you talk to him. But it's also when he's not looking that you let your guard relax too much."

Suddenly, Hagakure started speaking with a serious tone she hadn't thought he could produce that reminded Kirigiri how he was the oldest person among the survivors. Surely having three years over her must've given him some more maturity.

"Now, if you want to really get close to him, I'll give you a special love forecast reading! Just for a million yen! It's a good deal!"

No, she took it back. It seemed Hagakure was Hagakure.

"I'm heading back" Kirgiri promptly ignored him and checked the time on the watch on her left wrist. "I also still have some jobs to do plus Naegi-kun's report."

"W-wait up! You got to help me out here! Don't the branch chief's have higher salaries than ours? I need some cash pronto! I was planning to ask Naegi-cchi for help but he got sick."

Although she knew she'd regret it, Kirgiri spared him a glance.

"…don't tell me you have debts again? What on earth do you even need so much money in this sort of world?"

To her question, Hagakure just took out a crystal ball decorated with various jewels from his vest's pocket. "Here it is! A new crystal ball worth 100 million yen! This thing will double, no, triple my readings concerning the weather."

"Please pay for it yourself," was her blunt response. After all, Hagakure really will always be Hagakure. She glanced at her watched again. All that time wasted.

She moved passed the clairvoyant who got out of her way. However, right as she was about to leave the apartment.

"Just for now, I'll give you a free reading! Today is a good time for you telling your feelings to Naegi-cchi. Like, planets aligning everything will turn alright good! It seems that there has been no progress for a long time and there won't be a good time in the near future! Now, you don't need to thank me, just lend me some money and…"

Hagakure talked fast even as his branch's head reached the door of the apartment. She glanced over her shoulder to stop him with an ice-cold look.

"Hm. If you keep saying unnecessary things, I will make sure to send you on a dangerous mission on the front line by yourself. I'm sure the other divisions would be happy for volunteers."

"W-wait a minute! Forgive me, Kirigiri-cchi! That's…that's an abuse of power, I say!"

"Oh? But those sorts of missions are the ones that pay the most. The more dangerous, the higher the pay."

"My life is more important than money! Even I know that!"

"If you want to work then start tomorrow. I will leave Naegi-kun to you."

With those last words, Kirigiri twisted the handle and stepped out of the apartment. As she closed the door behind her, she tried to settle the unease in her heart. She liked to have thought of it as Naegi's condition or leaving him in Hagakure's care, but she knew the real reason.

' _First Asahina-san and now even Hagakure. Why do people keep misunderstanding that I have feelings for Naegi-kun?''_

Unconsciously, her left hand clenched into a tight fist.

'… _Even though I'm not qualified to like him in the first place. No, now's not the time for that. I need to send Naegi-kun's report.'_

After a small shake of her head, Kirigiri began making her way back to her branch's building with tight clicks of her heels following behind.

* * *

"I've returned," announced Kyoko to no one in particular as she stepped into the Future Foundation's 14th branch's office space. It was a rather large open space where plastic separators made up different cubicles. The only room with closed walls and a door led was her office. One had to step outside to use the building's bathrooms and kitchen if needed.

No one greeted her back as everyone looked busy working. A few glances that went back to their monitor. Kyoko didn't mind the lack of response if everyone was productive and doing work. She wasn't here to make friends after all. Even Naegi would only bother with a verbal "welcome back" if he was too busy wrapped up with a report. Otherwise, he'd go up to her and ask her how things went.

Much like Ichigaya was doing now.

"Oh..Um…excuse me, Division Chief?"

A female branch member approached her anxiously. Kyoko knew this wasn't due to some innate shyness but rather it was from how unapproachable Kyoko was as a boss. She never went out of her way to befriend her staff and would decline the rare times she'd be invited to get-togethers. Kyoko then correctly guessed that Ichigaya wanted something unrelated to work.

"If I may ask, what's the condition of Naegi-senpai? Is he okay?"

The worry in the younger woman's eyes and tone of her voice looked genuine. Of course, Kyoko knew Igarashi regularly talked her "senpai". Laughed at his jokes. Asked him for help. And not just her. Naegi Makoto was a person who Kyoko believed could befriend anyone with enough time. His rather impressive title as the Ultimate Hope combined with his friendly personality made him quite popular with in the office…although he didn't seem to be conscious of it.

"It's just a cold," answered Kyoko in the professional to-the-point tone she reserved for the office. "He's taken medicine and is sleeping right now. Hagakure stayed back to look after him. He should be back by tomorrow."

"That's…that's great!." At Kyoko's words, Ichigaya smiled happily, relief on her face. It was a straightforward and lovely reaction Kyoko knew she couldn't replicate.

After that, the woman left Kyoko to go back to her desk, chatting with the other members of the branch, no doubt on Naegi's status. With that done, Kyoko headed to Naegi's cubicle. Before she could continue with her own work, she might as well finish his request first.

Naegi's work space was a small neat cubicle consisting of a desk with a few personal belongings on it, a personal computer, and a desk chair. It was a neat space with little litter as Kyoko didn't want anyone in her branch to have an untidy mess in their workspace. If not her, then Togami would make sure people would cry. She had seen it herself. And filled in the following paperwork of complaints on his behavior herself.

So when she sat down on his chair (which was boosted to the highest it could go) and booted up his PC, she didn't think it would take too long to obtain the report until she reached a certain screen.

' _Password?'_

The screen on the monitor showed a single window in front of a a blue background with the logo of the Future Foundation at the center. The top of the window indicated the current user, here "Naegi Makoto" and then a blank box where you typed in a password.

' _Well, it shouldn't be a surprise.'_ Kyoko wasn't sure if she was annoyed that there was a password or that she should feel shame for condescendingly thought Naegi wouldn't even do the first thing tech support had told them to do when making their office account. Whatever the case, the problem was…

' _I don't remember hearing a password from Naegi-kun…'_ She stared at the screen and quickly scanned the desk for papers he may have written down. She thought it was possible that he may have written it down, so he wouldn't forget it. Maybe even stick it to the side of the monitor.

After a few moments of searching, the same bipolar feeling of pride and shame came when she couldn't find a single note that looked like it could be a password.

It was way too cheeky of Naegi to make her feel bad for thinking less of him but also getting in her way.

Still, there was a simple way to resolve her problem. She reached into her pocket to draw out her phone and open up her contacts. Her finger hovered over the "Naegi Makoto" at the top of her directory before moving to instead lock the device.

' _Naegi-kun just went to sleep. It'll be bad to wake him up.'_

She tucked her phone back and faced the monitor once more. The only hint the screen offered was that it could range from one to five characters.

' _If it's someone as normal as Naegi-kun then it shouldn't be a complex cipher.'_ Kirigiri, herself, used a password consisting of ten different letters and numbers that she changed every time she logged in. Plus, even if it didn't mean anything anymore, she had been the Ultimate Detective. She'd even liked to go back to whatever was left of the detective industry once the world had stabilized.

' _For a_ _Kirigiri, Naegi-kun's password should be easy.'_ In the back of her mind, it was quite lucky of her that the tech team had yet to respond to her request to lock an account after a certain number of failed password inputs. Not that she'd reach ten.

And so, with a small smirk on her face, Kyoko went to work.

' _Naegi-kun's smart enough not to use the simple 12345 nor are there enough spaces for 'password'. The first password most people would use is their birthday. It should be..'_

Enthustiastically, Kyoko typed in [0205]

The window shook for a second before responding: **[** Password is incorrect **]**

' _Well, it's for the best.'_ Even if it would be easy for her, it was better that way. There's no point in a password that was easily solved after all.

' _If not himself, then maybe family,'_ Kyoko glances at one of the two picture frames that decorated the desk. On it was a picture of his sister Naegi Komaru along with Fukawa Touko. Both were in Towa City at the moment and it was obvious how much Naegi cared for his little sister. Kyoko recalled a certain conversation he had with her where he asked her if he could send a wrapped present to the city.

' _That day, he certainly said it was…'_ She flipped to the month of May on Naegi's desk calendar to see a red circle along with a note.

She typed it in: [0531]

 **[** Password is incorrect **]**

'…' Kyoko considered Naegi's parents but after shifting through the calendar on his desk, couldn't find either. She rarely heard him speak of them, but it may be because of his anxiety on their unknown status.

Gloved fingers slowly drummed on the desk as Kyoko tried to think of another person's birthday who would be important enough for Naegi to set as his password. The man had many friends but if there had to be one person he would consider special…

Kyoko's eyes were drawn to the other photo stand on the next. Next to Komaru's, was a group photo of a group of radically different teenagers. People who didn't look like they should be friends but were. The faces of the 78th class of Hope's Peak Academy stared back at her. Her once classmates. Maybe, even her once friends.

It wasn't a perfect picture. Fukawa turned away. Togami had his eyes closed. Oogami was holding Yamada's head for some reason. The first thing anyone else would immediately point out would be how jarring it is that Enoshima Junko is in the picture. Without any knowledge of the one who ended the world, the girl fit right in. Even Kyoko's younger self looked comfortable in the class which she still felt a hard time believing.

And sitting right next to Naegi, was Maizono Sayaka. On his free time, Naegi had made a point to collect as much information on his forgotten classmates as possible: Game recordings of Kuwata or Asahina doujins and works by Hifumi and Fukawa, and of course, concerts, shows, and promo materials of Maizono Sayaka's idol group. Kyoko had seen a few of them and she could say Maizono's smile in her work is a far cry from the delighted sincere smile she showed in the picture.

Kyoko would never know the truth but perhaps the idol had been interested in Naegi…and, once upon a time, the feelings may have been reciprocated.

' _If it's her birthday then,'_ Kyoko remembered how Naegi left an unopened box by the bamboo that was set up in the office for Tanabata. She tried to forget the pained expression he had as he left the box there and stared up at the hanging strips of wishes.

[0707]

 **[** Password is incorrect **]**

' _It's as expected.'_ A sigh escaped Kyoko's lips. It wasn't one of frustration but rather resignation. In her heart, she had always known the real password. She wasn't even sure why she didn't type in that set of numbers immediately. Maybe, she was hoping for something different, that it wasn't those numbers. She didn't know why she had hoped for such a thing but there was no doubt on how she had been actively avoiding it.

A set of numbers that were deeply and strongly carved into the heart of Naegi Makoto that it had even been used to debunk a Naegi imposter in the Neo World Program.

" _I can't possibly overcome the deaths of my friends. That's impossible for me. So I won't overcome it. I'll always carry it with me. I won't forget it and continue moving forward. Their deaths and their hopes will be with me when I get out of here."_

The last message of Maizono Sayaka before her death. A message that could be taken as protection or revenge. The password of the Neo World Program inscribed in Nezumi Castle to protect the students and bridge the way to the future.

' _Again, she's still in the deepest part of your heart'_

Ignoring the way her chest tightened in pain, Kyoko Kirigiri typed in the password.

[11037]

And pressed the enter key.

...

…

…

 **[** Password is incorrect **]**

"…Huh?" Kyoko blinked once. Twice. For the first time in ages, pure surprise showed on Kirgiri Kyoko's face. She checked the screen again to see if she did input it correctly. To be sure, she typed in the series of numbers once more but…

 **[** Password is incorrect **]**

' _It's…different?'_ She released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. She tried to think how or why it would be different but couldn't think of one. It was possible that Naegi had only thought of using those numbers as a password after setting up his work account but…it seemed unlikely he wouldn't have just changed it or uniformity's sake.

Still, she somehow felt relief but also regret that her only clue went down the drain.

' _Maybe it was a birthday after all?'_ However, she had already tried Naegi and his sister. She couldn't find his parents' birthday's so as well. But if it was someone else besides Maizono then…the day was still fresh in her memory…

'… _No way.'_ An impossible thought flitted through her mind. It had absolutely no chance to happen. Something that she could only call hubris, even delusion, but…

' _If so…I wonder what kind of face I'll make the next time we talk…'_

With slow deliberate motions, Kyoko typed in numbers she was very familiar with.

 _Badump_.

 _Badump_.

She felt her heart beat rise with every press of a button.

[1006]

October sixth. Her birthday.

As she pressed down on the enter key, she thought up excuses that no one would ever hear or understand,

' _It's not like I expect it to work. I'm just confirming it. I'm just getting a document.'_

...

…

…

 **[** Password is incorrect **]**

'… _. stupid.'_

She willed down the red-hot embarrassment trying to crawl up her neck to reach face. _'There's no reason why Naegi-kun will set a woman's birthday as his password unless they were in a relationship.'_

' _I don't even know why I came up with such an idea….'_

* * *

Meanwhile, as Kirigiri Kyoko tried to force her way through a password, she was unaware of the kind of sight she was making in front of her division.

At the moment, there was a not so subtle group of members watching her curiously.

"Yo," whispered one male member. "What's division chief doing sitting down on Naegi-san's desk? She's been there for a while now.'

"I'm not sure but I hope she's alright." Another male member whispered back "Whatever she's doing looks to be an emotional roller coaster. I didn't think she even had any other expression besides blank."

"So, she wasn't a robot. I knew it."

"Hey hey! I have an idea" a certain gossipy member spoke up. "I think she's suspicious that Naegi-san's cheating on her!"

This remark only created doubts from the other members.

"That Naegi-san? No way."

"Naegi-san wouldn't do that!"

"Can he even do better?"

"Well, with his status as the guy who beat that bitch Enoshima, pretty much."

"The guy's too nice though. I don't think he'd have it in him."

"Maybe, he's dating the other person without realizing it?"

"I don't think Kirigiri-san is someone who could feel jealousy."

"I don't think she could even feel."

Amidst the chaos she had unleashed, the gossip wasn't done. "But what else would she be doing other than searching his PC's history? I'm sure she's already checked his phone."

"Hold up. Let's all calm down before she notices. I think I may know the reason she'd be suspuscious." The eldest of the group rubbed the stubble on his chin before turning his eyes to the next oldest member. "Nagasaki, weren't you making a big fuss that you had a date with Naegi-san the other day?"

"Th-that's wrong." stuttered the smaller woman, not liking how everyone turned their attention to her. "We just went out to buy a gift. Naegi-san needed a woman's opinion on the matter."

"Well, she wouldn't know that would she?"

"That must be the real reason."

"I can't believe that the chief could get so easily jealous."

"Then, I'll explain myself properly to the Kirgiri-kaichou!" Nagasaki adapted a guts pose. While it was true that she, like most of the members, were intimidated by their boss, something else rose past that fear. "I don't want two people to break up because of me!"

"Ah...she left."

"She did."

"This could only end really badly."

"More like it just got more interesting."

"I wouldn't mind if they broke up though."

"Quiet, you."

* * *

"Excuse me, division head?"

"What?" At the unexpected sound, Kyouko looked away from the monitor to see another female member of her staff calling her. Nagasaki, if she could recall. She had been concentrating so hard that she didn't even notice the smaller woman walk up to her.

Hiding her impatience, she willed herself to calmly turn to the older woman.

"Is there something wrong."

"Ah well, you've been at Naegi-san's seat with a difficult face for a while now." Nagasaki tried to keep eye contact with Kyoko's blank stare but failed. "I'm just wondering if everything's alright?"

'… _it seemed that I've been here for a while.'_ Ignoring the thought on how her actions may have looked for everyone else, Kyoko decided to just lay the truth.

"Due to his current sickness, he just asked me to submit a report for headquarters for him."

"I see. So that's the reason." There was a sigh of relief Kyoko wasn't sure the reason for. "It's just that for a moment you looked sad, then your face turned red, then you looked frustrated."

"Is…that so?" Kyoko tried not to think about how she had been watched. The space was public after all. Still, was she really expressing so much?

"Well, I'm at least happy that you're not investigating if Naegi-san's cheating on not."

"What….?" Kyoko blinked at those words.

' _Cheating? Naegi-kun? With who? No, more importantly…'_

"Naegi-kun was going out with someone?" she asked Nagasaki who actually cowered behind how much ice there was laced in her voice.

Kyoko knew Naegi wasn't going out with anyone. That shouldn't be. However, it wasn't as if she was part of his life 24/7. There was the faint possibility of him developing a relationship with a woman Kyoko never knew about. He already made friends with everyone else in the branch before she realized it. It was the same when they were back trapped in Hope's Peak where he'd easily befriend anyone he'd meet.

An image of Naegi hugging an unknown woman came to her mind. Kyoko tried to settle down her chest as it itched and tugged while an unknown disgusting feeling coursed through her veins.

Unaware of the feelings going through her boss, Nagasaki continued.

"What do you mean? Isn't Kirigiri- kaichou going out with Naegi-san?

"What….?" The exact same word from earlier came out of Kyoko's mouth at the question. Whatever thoughts and feelings she had disappeared as her mind stopped.

Until now, she's heard thoughts that she has had feelings for Naegi-kun, and even remarks that Naegi had feelings for her. However, this was the first time she's heard that they were both dating. Could something like that really happen with one of the parties not knowing?

Her confusion must have shown on her face as Nagasaki looked equally confused. "Eh? Aren't you guys a couple? Did I misunderstand? Then that time…Naegi-san must've…"

Seeing Nagasaki distraught at her own words allowed Kyoko to calm down. It seemed both of them were upset for different reasons so it would be better if Kyoko was the one who took control again.

"Calm down, Nagasaki-san. Naegi-kun and I are not in such a relationship. I'd like to ask why there was such a misunderstanding in the first place."

Nagasaki stilled at that, shuffling in place for a moment, before finally replying with an unsure tone. "Well, Naegi-san recently consulted me on getting you a birthday gift. He said he wanted a woman's opinion on it."

Kirigiri nodded, not letting the any of her thoughts show on her face.

That was right. It had been her birthday a few days ago. Asahina, Hagakure, Togami, and herself had a small get-together at a restaurant. Asahina had managed to drag Togami there while Hagakure had brought a cake. Naegi had wanted to join but he had to meet-up with someone of great importance to an important plan he had been working on recently. He still had called her after and they both spent a good portion of the night just talking to each other and watching the same moon.

She didn't even realize that he never gave her a gift.

"We went shopping for your gift a day before and when the cashier asked if it was for me, Naegi-san replied "It's not for her. But…I want to give it to an important person.' "

Although Nagasaki's impression of Naegi was awful, Kyoko still couldn't prevent help but feel her cheeks getting a little warmer when she thought of Naegi saying those words. She crossed her arms, as if the action would settle her emotions.

"Even if your story was true, those words wouldn't necessarily mean an important person was someone he was in a relationship with. Naegi-kun could just be humoring the cashier. I'm also sure he thinks of all his friends as important."

"I…I see. You're right, chief." Nagasaki bowed her head in acknowledgement. It was true that it had been presumptuous of her to think so but there was still one other thing. "But when I asked Naegi-kun why he needed help, Naegi-kun told me, 'I want to confess to Kirigiri-san when I give this gift, so it has to be special.' So I thought you guys were dating by now."

"!?" Of a day full of surprises, this may have been the biggest for Kirgiri Kyoko. She may have gotten a heart attack from how fast the organ started beating from just the thought. To think an office clerk working under her could surprise her in a way Enoshima couldn't.

' _Naegi-kun wants to confess to me? But…that can't be. There shouldn't be any reason to. After all, I only do things that would make him hate me.'_

Kyoko thought of the time she hadn't spoken a single word to him when he wouldn't tell her about his suspicions on Oogami Sakura being a mole.

' _If I had thought about it harder, it was clear he wanted to but had his own circumstances. It was not like I hadn't kept my own secrets from him yet he didn't mind how secretive I was'_

There was also the time she had sent him to go to the hidden room behind the toilet even though she knew it was dangerous. Then when she heard he was attacked, she didn't apologize.

' _Still he did not blame me for it.'_

And of course, in the fifth-class trial…

' _Such a thing…'_

Even in the final trial, when she had sworn to herself that she'd never do such a despicable and weak act again, when the time came to make the same choice, her safety or his, she had still hesitated and considered repeating her worst mistake.

'… _I don't have any qualifications for being liked by Naegi-kun.'_

"Wait, did he say confess?" The words of the woman in front of her broke Kyoko out of her melancholy.

"What….?" This was the third time today and, to be honest, Kyoko was getting tired of it. Was this woman teasing her on purpose?

"I'm sorry I got it wrong!" Nagasaki bowed low. "I believe he actually said 'I have something I want to tell Kirigiri-san.' But…that's really the same isn't it?"

"…not at all." Kyoko was surprise with how low and tinged with disappointment her voice was. And it seemed Nagasaki picked up on that.

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! But surely, it's a confession. I'm sure it's a confession! Didn't Naegi-san say anything when he gave you his gift?"

"At the time, Naegi-kun had to go to headquarters to have a meeting with the 7th division head." In fact, she was supposed to accompany him as his divisions head but he had insisted that she should rest up because it was her birthday. Really, he didn't need to concern himself so much

"Then that means, he hasn't…," A look of realization followed by sadness was shown in Nagasaki's face. In her mind, she had ruined Naegi's surprise of a confession. Maybe if she left fast enough… "Ex-excuse me!"

"Wait." The single word from her division head froze the woman in place.

"…recently, Hagakure Yasuhiro has yet to set a password for his account. He told me he didn't have any ideas on what to set it as. The passwords I use are too complex for him to remember so do you have any suggestions?"

"Well, if it's a password then a birthday should do, right?" Nagasaki tilted her head in thought. "Or maybe the name of an important person? He always talks about his mom so maybe her name."

Kyoko nodded even if it wasn't the answer she had been hoping for. "That's true. Thank you, that should be enough."

"Then, I'll go back to work!" With another bow, Nagasaki left but not before adding one last thought. "Kirgiri-kaichou, it would be nice if you could confess to Naegi-san!"

It seems that there was another misunderstanding, but Kyoko was too tired of correcting those at this point. Maybe she'll post a memorandum to clear everything up in the future but for now she turned back to the PC and the cursed password entry screen.

She didn't like approaching the idea that he also used letters as it made her list of possible choices grow exponentially. However, it didn't seem like she had a choice in the matter. Thankfully, it seemed that the letters were automatically capitalized so that made it slightly easier.

' _The name of an important person…'_

Komaru was too long. Sayaka was too long. If so then…

[NAEGI]

 **[** Password is incorrect **]**

'… _it would have been too embarrassing for my pride as a detective if that had gone though. If there's no one else then I have no choice but to brute force it. If I know Naegi-kun, then I'm sure it's not that hard.'_

And so she started typing in any words she could think of.

[PARKA]

 **[** Password is incorrect **]**

[161CM]

 **[** Password is incorrect **]**

[AHOGE]

 **[** Password is incorrect **]**

[LUCK]

 **[** Password is incorrect **]**

[HOPE]

 **[** Password is incorrect **]**

' _That cheeky Naegi-kun!'_ With the last rejection, Kyoko gritted her teeth, not expecting to face such a difficult struggle. She tried to examine the keyboard to see if any buttons were more worn out than others, but it didn't look like so.

It was not only a slight to her pride as the Ultimate Detective but also that-

' _After all this time, I don't really understand anything about Naegi-kun.'_

If she was his boss, his friend, then a password of at least five letters or numbers should have been easy for someone like as normal as him.

' _This isn't the only time…'_

When she had found the headmaster's personal computer, a password was needed to open a hidden compartment, and she had been unable to solve that one as well.

Back then, she had thought of it as hopeless as she did not know or understand the person who had left her years ago.

Now, she couldn't even guess it for someone who she talked to everyday.

She was disqualified as his boss and maybe even his friend. Had she really overestimated how close they were? Did she only know so little about him? After all, it was always Naegi who wanted to know more about her, it was always Naegi who dared to approach territories about her even Kyoko herself did not fully understand.

Even if she was the detective, sometimes it felt like he knew her more than she knew herself.

' _That's right. Back then, Naegi-kun was also the one who opened the computer.'_

She hadn't even thought someone who threw her away would set her own name as their password. Even Enoshima had been able to guess it right.

' _[KYOKO]…my name…'_

Unconsciously, she followed the Naegi in her memory as he typed in the code to her father's computer and pressed enter.

[Authentication completed]

"…?"

* * *

Naegi Makoto was dying…or at least he felt like it.

His head throbbed in pain, his throat was hoarse, and with his eyelids felt like they weighed a ton each. With great effort, he willed his eyes to open to see the insides of his room.

"!?" In front of him was a sight that he never expected. Hovering above his bed was a stranger in a white coat and a black mask. The most worrying thing was how the person was brandishing a large survival knife that looked poised and ready to strike.

Naegi tried to get away but his body was too heavy. He couldn't move at all or do anything as the knife descended to his chest

"Stop right there!"

A dignified voice echoed throughout the room surprising both Naegi and his assailant. The knife stopped right before it could draw blood and the masked stranger turned to the entrance of the room.

"The mastermind I presume. Or perhaps Ikusaba Mukuro?"

At the entrance of his room stood Kirigiri Kyoko, her posture in what looked to Naegi to be a fighting stance. Naegi tried to get up, tried to warn her of the knife, but his body was too weak.

"Kirigiri-san…knife…. watch…"

The assailant didn't wait for him to finish as the person bolted for the door. Kirigiri tried to catch her but the knife in the masked person's hands made her hesitate. The stranger jumped into the hallways with the girl looking to follow suit.

Right before she did, she moved to closer to Naegi who was still lying on the bed, breathing heavily. She watched over him for a moment before saying,

"You're okay…"

To Naegi's ears, she had said those words with undeniable pure relief. Then without another glance, she left the room to start her chase.

'Ah.' As unconsciousness started to pull Naegi back to sleep, he felt his chest grow a little hotter from the last sight he saw. _'Kirigiri-san has such a kind face.'_

…

Bzzt.

…

Bzzt. Bzzt.

"Huh?" When Naegi Makoto opens his eyes once again, he sees the ceiling of his apartment's bedroom. He heard something vibrating nearby which must have been the reason why he had woken up.

"…A dream?" Makoto didn't remember back then what happened that night due to his fever but what he just dreamt…was that his memory? He'd just have to confirm with Kirgiri-san then.

' _Kirigiri-san…she must have left…'_

Still not fully awake, Naegi instead chose to fumble for his phone which he had left by the bedside. It had finally stopped vibrating, but the screen still showed the reason it did. A bunch of messages were listed on the home screen ranging from questions on how he was feeling to standard get-well-soons.

The most urgent looking one, however, was the one that looked to be from headquarters. The contents of the mail urged him to send his report immediately.

' _Report? Didn't I tell Kirigiri-san to…'_

"Ah!"

It was at that point that Naegi Makoto realized he had made a terrible mistake.

"Ah! AH! AH!"

He had forgotten that how he had locked his PC. No, the problem wasn't that it was locked, the problem was that the password to open it…

He tried not to think about it, how a girl he wasn't dating would feel when she learned he set his password to her name. He really tried not to think about it but…

' _To be honest…it's a bit creepy, Naegi-kun.'_

Naegi Makoto was dying…or at least he felt like it.

He wasn't even sure why he did such a thing.

It had just been a few days ago when he was at headquarters. After his meeting with Gekkogahara-san, he had called Kirgiri-san to apologize that he hadn't been there for her birthday. After a few hours of talking, Kizakura Koichi, the 3rd division head, overheard his chat and, unsurprisingly strong armed Naegi to go drinking with him. He wasn't exactly clear on exactly what happened that night, but he had somehow been convinced to change his password to Kirigiri-san's name.

' _The power of drinking is scary.'_

Naegi checked the time on his watch. If he hurried, he could still make it to the branch office!

He jumped out of his bed only to see Hagakure going through his drawers.

"What are you doing, Hagakure-kun?

"Naegi-cchi!" The older man jumped, holding a rosary bracelet in front of himself defensively with one hand. On the other hand was…

"Are..are those my boxers?"

"Nah, you must be seeing things. "At his words, Hagakure hid the hand holding said underwear behind his back.

Naegi's eyes narrowed at the obvious lie. There was something fishy going on and if Hagakure was involved, it had something to do with a scam or a ponzi scheme. He wanted to inquire further but he didn't really have the time.

"I'm heading back to the office. I still have something I need to do!" He grabbed the vest that was strewn across the sofa in his living space and made his way to the door.

"Oy Naegi-cchi! You sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine!" Naegi pumped a clenched fist at Hagakure. "That medicine really did the job!"

"Still, you should be resting." It was unusual "Do you really need to send that document today?"

"Yeah! Definitely!" Well, that was partly true. He did have to send it today, it's just that there's a bigger crisis in front of him.

"Well, it's still yesterday in some parts of the world! Just tell her that!" Hagagure grinned cheekily. "That's what I always do."

"Does it work?"

"…No. But this time, I have a feeling that it'll work! No, not a feeling, a divination that you it'll work! It must be the power of my new crystal ball!"

"…Um sure, Hagakure-kun."

"That's a good dude." Hagakure then turned to Naegi with an uncharacteristically serious face. "Still, if it's that important. Don't push yourself, okay. We don't need you getting sick anymore. Also, Kirigiri-cchi would kill me, if you still were and I let you."

"Hagakure-kun..." murmured Naegi before a set of keys were thrown at him. He caught it and recognized it as his own.

"I'll fix this place up. Say hi to her for me!"

"I will! Thanks, Hagakure-kun!" With one last smile, Naegi Makoto left his office in a rush, dearly hoping he could make it before his self-induced execution.

Hagakure waited a few moments after the door closed before holding up the boxers that he had been clenching the whole time. "The Ultimate Hope's underwear…. This is going to make me rich!"

 **Line**

"Naegi-kun? What are you doing here?"

The moment Naegi stepped into the office space, he, of course, bumped into the last person he wanted to see.

"Ki-Kirgiri-san?!", half-screamed half-shrieked the luckster at the sound of her voice. He couldn't say anything else as a gloved hand encircled one wrist and practically dragged his body into her office.

Once they arrived, she gave him a quick once over before asking, "Are you really well enough to be here? You shouldn't force yourself if you're still feeling under the weather."

Naegi took a second to calm himself and check Kirigiri expression. Her tone and face showed no hint of disgust or contempt or that he was some sort of insect, so it didn't seem like she had opened the computer yet.

"No, I'm fine! I'm fine!" Naegi waved his hands as if that gesture was proof enough. The relief he felt leaked into his voice. "The medicine worked really well!"

"Really?" Her eyes narrowed as she held her chin with two fingers." Then what's your temperature?"

"Ah…well." Of course, he had no time to check that. He had been too much in a rush. Even till now, her nature as a detective always left him helpless to her questioning.

Kirigiri sighed in disappointment. The sound never failed in bringing up guilt in Naegi's stomach.

"Sorry."

"It can't be helped then." Suddenly, much too suddenly for Naegi, his boss raised her bangs with one hand and moved closer and closer until they were just a breath away from each other.

"…"

"…"

In front of Naegi, the face of Kirigiri Kyoko hovered as their foreheads touched. While her eyes were closed trying to concentrate on measuring the heat, Naegi's own eyes were wide as saucers as they drank in every detail on the woman's face. Details like how long her eye lashes were and how beautiful her pale skin glowed and how if he just moved his lips a little he could take a taste of her peach colored-

' _W-what am I thinking!'_ The brunette screamed in his mind. _'This is Kirigiri-san after all! She's just worried about my physical condition!'_

He was caught up in an internal struggle on how exactly her hair could smell that good when Kirigiri separated herself from him and she spoke up.

"It does seem like your fever has gone down but that doesn't mean the cold is gone." She noted with a clipped tone. "I'm not sure why you came back but please return as soon as possible, Naegi-kun."

Even after doing something that almost gave Naegi a stroke, Kirigiri's voice was as dignified and as calm as usual. He couldn't help but feel admiration that she'd care so much about someone with a cold. He was sure she'd do it for anyone else.

"Well, I received an e-mail from headquarters to send the report already." Naegi began his reasoning for returning. He rubbed the back of head. "I forgot that I had locked my computer, so you couldn't get it."

"Well, you could have just emailed me the password then-" Of course, that was impossible. "But it's fine, I already sent it to headquarters."

Naegi's hand froze mid rub. Not only his hand but his whole body froze up at what her heard.

What. What? What!?

But…that meant…

"Naegi-kun." Kirigiri continued ignoring the meltdown happening inside the shorter man's mind. "You forgot to lock the computer when we sent you back home. I opened it without any problems."

"R-really?" was the only word Naegi could sputter out as relief spread throughout his body, equal to the time he found himself still alive after his failed execution.

He wasn't even sure how. He was sure he locked it even though he was still feeling the worst of the sickness at the time but maybe he didn't? Could it have been Alter Ego again? The AI always did know when to save him.

Well, he tried not to think about it too hard because in the end he was saved!

"Please don't be so careless next time even if you're sick. In the first place, please don't show up to work, if you are sick." chastised Kirigiri but Naegi was too relieved to feel bad about the lecture.

"You're report also contained many errors which I took the time to rectify."

"Sorry."

He at least tried to look like he felt bad but the grin on his face refused to go down. He tried to settle himself down, to not show his relief before she would notice and ask him about it. It was only then that he felt something poke his chest.

His eyes widened in recognition on what the object was. He glanced around. They were both alone in her office. Right now, everyone would be busy working. There also were no signs of other people in the corridor. Indeed, it had been a while since the two of them were last by themselves.

' _This is an opportunity, isn't it?'_

For the past few days, he had been trying to give her the gift he had left in his pocket for some time now but there was no opportunity due to how busy the woman was.

"Um, Kirigiri-san." Naegi gathered up determination within him as he felt his inner chest pocket with one hand.

"Yes?"

"I know it's late but-"

"Excuse me! There's a report I need you to check kaichou."

Suddenly, Asumi-san stepped into the office. Naegi knew her as the one who always shared sweets had been sent by her parents with the other members. He had made friends with her with their shared interest in idols.

' _The same pattern as usual.'_ Naegi thought with a hint of bitterness. The main reason why he hadn't been able to give her his gift was because whenever he approached her when she was free she'd immediately be pulled aside by other people. It really was just his luck.

" _I'm sorry Naegi-kun but I still have work to do. Maybe, next time"_

He already knew what she was going to say to him. His shoulders slumped down a little as he realized another opportunity had passed.

"I'm sorry, I'm having an important talk right now. Can it wait for a moment?"

To his surprise, different words left her lips. Both he and Asumi looked at her with wide surprised eyes. Naegi couldn't believe that she'd put aside any work. It worked out for him sure but still didn't think she should call it important.

As for Asumi…

"Oh! OH!" Her eyes darted quickly between the two before a small blush settled on her cheeks. "I'm, I'm sorry! Take your time! Please take your time."

She immediately retreated, closing the door behind her.

After a few moments of silence, Kirgiri turned back to Naegi. She combed a strand of hair behind her ear and looked him in the eyes.

"Well, Naegi-kun, you wanted to tell me something, right?"

Naegi blinked, still not really believing the stroke of luck he had. He used the lack of feeling to his advantage and reached into his vest to bring out a rectangular boxed wrapped in a red ribbon.

"well, I really wanted to give it to you that day but…"

"A birthday gift?" To his relief, Naegi saw a small smile grow on Kirigiri's lips as she received it. She examined the box for a moment before looking back at him. "You know, you could've given it if you allowed me to go to headquarters with you."

"No way." Naegi shook his head with a smile. "I couldn't let all of Asahina-san's work in getting Togami-kun to go to waste. Hagakure-kun also spent a long time baking the cake you guys ate."

"He baked it?"

"Yeah." Naegi rubbed his chin. "He said he was more used to baking brownies and cookies, so a cake was fine with him. You think it's important to have a birthday party."

"Well then," Kirigiri raise the box in her hands and fingered the ribbon. "I wonder if I can open this here?"

"Um, sure," was Naegi's reply with a small amount of doubt.

Slowly, she undid the ribbon then worked her way to undo the wrapping paper. Eventually, she reached a box which held-

"A pendant?"

"Yeah. I knew it immediately suited Kirigiri-san when I saw it."

'It' was a golden pendant with a light purple stone at its center. Nagasaki-san had suggested to him to look for accessories she could wear but let Naegi be the one to decide on which to get. After seeing that necklace, he knew there wasn't any other choice.

"Thank you, Naegi-kun. It's lovely." A rare happy smile bloomed across her face which only made Naegi feel hot inside once more. Was his fever returning? He hoped not.

"Well, then let's put it on immediately."

"Huh…?"

Turning her back to him, Kirigiri used one hand to lift long lavender hair that revealed a milky nape. The other was stretched, holding the pendant. ""If you could, Naegi-kun"

"S-sure."

Swallowing hard, Naegi stepped close enough to once again be hit by the dizzying scent of lavender. He took the pendant with from with his left hand and positioned it by the side of the next. With a mumbled whisper of "Excuse me", he reached over her front with his right arm to grab the other end and enclosed the gold chain ends together.

When he stepped back, he was sure the heat in his head wasn't from a returning fever. Kirigiri turned back to him, the light purple stone hanging above her chest, easily sticking out from her the black formal attire she wore.

"What do you think?"

"…It really suits you." Well, Naegi had thought anything would have suited the woman but he knew that wasn't the right answer.

"Yes, I like it as well. You always have the best gifts." Kirigiri tilted her head down to look at the gift, gloved fingers grasping the pendant. Just seeing her hold his gift made Naegi think how all that time spent struggling thinking about it was worth it.

"It's a little embarrassing when we're at work so I'll keep it inside my clothes for now. "With the hand grasping the pendant, she tucked it into her blouse. Naegi made sure to look away when she did so. "I'll wear it on holidays, if that's fine."

"No, that's fine! I mean, it's yours after all. You don't have to wear it all the time…"

Naegi waved his hands to assure her though it was more because he was finding it hard to look at his friend knowing she was wearing the gift she gave him. He didn't even know why she asked him. He didn't mind that she didn't want to show it off at work. If she did, it may start strange rumors and people would start asking questions he didn't think he could handle. He was happy enough that she was wearing it, after all.

Really, today had been too much for his heart. He should get back and rest.

"Well, then, I should head back to my room to rest up." Naegi eyed the door before turning back to his boss. The idea that only he knew she was wearing a pendant under her clothes, one that ha gave, was sent shivers down his spine. "Kirigiri-san, I'll leave you to your work."

"What?'

"…Yes?" Naegi blinked. He noticed the surprise on Kirigiri face. Did he say something strange?

"Well…Naegi-kun…"

"Uh..yeah…what is it?" Kirigiri turned to the side, one hand clutching the elbow of another. There was a rare hint of nervousness in her posture. Maybe, even anticipation.

" …I wonder if you have something else to tell me."

Naegi tried to think of what this "something else" was. Was it an apology for missing her birthday? Was it another report he had forgotten? Was it related to his fever? His mind shuffled through multiple the many truth bullets in his head, but it took him a long while to realize the correct one.

The whole situation told him that Kirigiri-san knew he had a birthday gift for her. That was why she allowed him to talk and she'd only know that from was the person who helped him out, Nagasaki-san. He then remembered that he had also told Nagasaki-san something else he wanted to do…

"Never mind. I'm sorry if I asked for something strange. Please take care."

Unfortunately, time looked to have ran out as Kirigiri shook her head and tried to brush away what she just said. If this was a game, it would be clear that Naegi had missed his chance and had to reload. However, life wasn't a game.

"…wait."

Right as Kirigiri was about to walk past him, Naegi grabbed a hold of one gloved hand. Even over gloves, he could still feel the warmth of her palms. He ignored how she stiffened under his hold but appreciated that she did stop in place.

He knew that this was the only time to say it. The next opportunity may not ever come again. If he didn't say it now, he'd never do it. If anything, that she had given him another opportunity to do so, to speak his mind, to get closer to her, just like she always did even back in the Class Trials, only made solidified what he wanted and needed to tell her.

"Kirigiri-san. Thank you."

"…what?"

Naegi raised his head and locked his eyes on her. "I've wanted to thank you, Kirgiri-san. Thank you for always helping me. Whenever times are hard or I feel sad, you always help me when I'm about to crumble."

To his surprise, Kirigiri's reaction wasn't happy or even smug. It was surprise and something else as she turned her gaze to the floor between them.

"I..I didn't do anything Naegi-kun. You don't know how strong you are. You move forward with your own power. Rather, I've only lead you into dangerous situations. I've even betrayed you."

Kirgiri spits out the last sentence with a shudder Naegi could feel through the hand he held.

"Even so, you still called me your friend. You still supported me when I was about to fell into despair and betray you again."

She turned her face back to him, her expression cloudy. There was a sadness in her eyes that Naegi had never seen before.

"I'm just being spoiled by your kindness…"

Little by little, Kirigiri's voice grows fainter.

"From the beginning, I never had any qualifications for your thanks."

This was the first time Naegi had seen his friend so vulnerable, so weak. He didn't know why she felt like this. He wasn't sure why she was acting like this. The Kirigiri Kyoko he knew was stronger and invincible, but then again, could he truly say he knew Kirigiri Kyoko?

However, no matter the answer to that question Naegi Makoto knew what he had to do. He had to tell her his feelings properly. She needed to know much she had helped him and how much he was thankful for! Even if it was embarrassing, even if he wasn't sure how to put it into words, he'd break through her arguments and make sure she received his feelings properly!

Because, no one should make such a sad face after being thanked!

"You've got that wrong." To his words, she looked up in surprise and this time Naegi made sure to lock his own clear gaze with her own. He squeezed tightly her hand he held, as if that would prevent her from looking away once more.

"Kirgiri-san, do you remember the first time we really talked?"

"…that was after the first trial."

"Yeah. At the time, I was shocked and saddened by Maizono-san. Not just her death but what looked to be also a betrayal. To be honest, that could have been when I'd have fallen into despair."

"…"

"But at that time, you went to me and said: 'We may never know the feelings of the dead, but you could still figure them out.' It was only thanks to your words that I did not have to think of badly of Maizono-san. You gave me the option that I could choose hope instead of despair for something I'd never know…I wonder if you didn't talk to me back then that I'd still be afraid of believing in people."

From the look in her eyes, Naegi knew Kirigiri was giving all her attention to his words. He continued.

"And when I said that I'd move forward and carry their deaths with me, you didn't laugh. Even though I rejected your suggestion of overcoming their deaths, you didn't say I was wrong. Then when you said you had hope in my answer, well, I was happy. I was really happy. If you say I'm strong, then it's only because you helped me become that way."

Naegi knew that if she had reacted differently that night, it was possible he'd never have had the ability to move forward. He'd have lost his hope.

"But, I've only used you for dangerous situations. Even at that time, I thought to sacrifice everything to find out the truth." The grip of the glove hand he held slackened. "And I did."

"That's different. Danger was something we could never escape in that school. Besides, you always told the information you found, didn't you?"

" _Beware of Mukuro Ikusaba"_

" _That key was the type that could open all the doors of the academy."_

"If you really were just using me, you wouldn't have told me so much information, right?"

Naegi was sure if he had revealed the Monokuma Key, it would have been Kirigiri-san who was carried to the press machine.

"But even so, in that classroom trial..!"

"Kirigiri-san." With the softest tone he could muster, he loaded the newest and definite truth bullet into the cartridge of his mind. He looked straight into her lilac eyes as he fired the truth that would convince his case.

"Thank you for protecting me from Enoshima the day before the classroom trial." Naegi continues with the brightest smile he could muster. "If you only cared for pursuing the truth, you would have pursued Enoshima-san immediate, right? But instead you bothered to check if I was safe."

"…So, you remember."

"Yes, and I'm glad because I never get to see such a gentle expression on Kirigiri-san's face."

"…"

"I know that you think of yourself as a cold person, but I know that's not true. I understand that you try to act by yourself to not involve as many people while at the same time you wholeheartedly seek out the truth."

Naegi readied the final bullets in his chamber as he prepared to shoot down every one of her shields down, hoping, praying, that his thoughts would get through to her.

' _Even if it's embarrassing…'_

"I've been saved by you many times."

' _Even if it was selfish,'_

"…Thank you. Thank for always helping me…"

' _Because I don't know when the next opportunity would come.'_

"Of course, when you're in trouble too, I'd also want to help you out.

' _I need to say it.'_

"So…"

The world around Naegi disappeared as the only thing that mattered was the person in front of him. The only sound he could hear was his own heartbeat as shot out the final truth within him.

"So I want you to stay by my side."

…

He remembered.

He remembered why he had been so desperate.

When he had gone to headquarters, he had heard a certain rumor and even if he wasn't the type to be privy to such things, its contents were too important for him to ignore.

[Kirigiri Kyoko was to be transferred to Future Foundation Headquarters as an on-site detective.]

It made sense. The woman was amazing. Using her talents as a detective, she could easy investigate hiding places for despair or even for rescue parties. Even Togami-kun acknowledged her as a boss although he warned her that he'd kick her out and take her place he ever judged her useless.

Really, why was someone that amazing in the PR department?

That was why he had worked himself to exhaustion on a report for headquarters, hoping that maybe they would send him as well.

That was why he had told her to stay and celebrate her party with everyone else as it may be the last time she could meet them.

That was he had been weak enough to go out drinking with Kizakura looking for some company.

That was why he set her name as his password.

That was why he felt like right now was the only moment he had left.

He had no idea what Kirigiri thought but, when he thought of her words,

" _Even if everyone in the outside world is gone, even if the world is steeped in despair, as long as I have people like you around, I can face forward and keep moving."_

Somehow, he had selfishly, foolishly, believed that she'd always stay with him forever. However, if she preferred becoming a detective for the future institution, their roads would become far too different than they already were.

He knew it would be better for her.

He knew it would be what she wanted.

' _But I…'_

' _I don't know why. I don't know why I feel this way but…'_

' _I want to stay with Kirigiri-san.'_

….

Naegi didn't know how long they both just stood there in silence. It could have been seconds or minutes or hours. He couldn't even see Kirigiri's face as she had bowed her head down after he told her his true feelings.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…is it okay?"

After what seemed like eternity, Kirigiri finally spoke. She raised a face painted with unease. Her eyes probed his own, not with the cold precision of a detective, but shaky hesitation of a woman.

"I…can I stay by your side, Naegi-kun?"

"Of course. I want you to stay by my side, Kirigiri-san."

At his words, her face started to brighten up a little. There was no beautiful smile or wide grin. There was no rambunctious laughter or whole-hearted giggle. There was nothing like that just a fraction of ease but Naegi still felt like he had never been so blinded in his life.

"I understand, then if you want it…"

She took a step forward and this time it was her who took his hand.

"…I'll stay by your side."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…but there's one condition."

"Condition?"

"…will you stay with me on my next birthday?"

"…Yeah, I understand. Next year, and the year after as well, let's celebrate together again and again."

* * *

"Are you seriously telling me those two aren't dating yet?

"Well, yeah, Kirigiri-kaichou told me that 'Naegi-kun and I are not in that kind of relationship.' "

"But no matter how you look at them, they're totally lovers aren't they?"

"Hey hey! When I went into the office by chance I was driven away because, in the Chief's words, they needed an "important talk". Then Naegi-san put on a necklace on her and they started flirting like crazy. Even from the outside, they totally look like a couple."

"You heard what they were saying?"

"Hey guys, it sounds like they're done."

"Wait, I think she's coming days way!"

"Oh f-"

"…What are you all doing here not working?"

Kirigiri Kyoko glared at the gossiping staff, her arms folded. The aura of anger she was able to produce made everyone forget that she was much younger than all of them. Behind her, Naegi waved awkwardly.

"All of you are working overtime without pay."

"….Yes, ma'am."

* * *

"So you're sure you don't want to transfer to headquarters?"

"Yes. I have judged that my abilities are most useful heading this division.

Kirigiri Kyoko stood in front of a monitor as she explained her reasoning for rejecting her caller's offer. The voice of an old man responded to her, one that perfectly matched the image of the Kazuo Tengan, the current head of the Future Foundation.

"That's a shame then. I've heard about your abilities from your father when he was still alive so I wanted to use those abilities by all means."

"I'm sorry but that's my final decision."

"No, no, I'm the one who should be sorry for being so pushy. An ability only can be truly demonstrated to the fullest when you use it for those you care about, right?"

"…I agree."

"Alright then. Say hello to Naegi-san for me."

The monitor died as the video call ended. Kyoko repressed a shudder. There was also something off about how Tengan's words recently. It almost reminder her of a certain remnant of despair that had was obsessed with chasing his own brand of hope.

It was also worth noting that it seemed even the president of the Foundation misunderstood her and Naegi's relationship.

Although…

 **[** KYOKO **]**

…maybe it wasn't a complete misunderstanding either.

No matter how much she thought about it, there was no reason for Naegi to have set her name as his password. Even if she could just ask him, she preferred not tp.

' _If possible…if it's possible that Naegi-kun thinks of me that way…'_

She had thought that she had only done horrible things to him until now, but he had shot each one of her reasonings down.

' _But if Naegi-kun really thinks of me that way, then what do I think about Naegi-kun?'_

She had thought she wasn't even qualified to think of such a thing. She had thought that she had no right to like people after all she's done.

"… _I still do not understand it yet.'_

As a detective, she knew she still lacked enough evidence to pin down exactly what she was feeling. As a woman, she knew she still lacked enough experience to readily declare what was in her heart.

"… _There is no need to be impatient…"_

His words were a promise.

" _I want you to stay by my side"_

And if they could keep that promise tomorrow, the year after tomorrow, and the year after that, and all the other tomorrows following then maybe someday, surely, the answer would come out…

Kyoko raised one hand to her chest and grasped the pendant hanging from her neck.

…surely.

* * *

 **Notes:**

 **I literally did this in one day holy fuck and it shows but goddamn am i done with this. Next chapter in a few hours.**

 **One of my many complaints of DR3:**

 **Kirigiri tells Naegi "I will always be by your side." And yet he just kinda goes "Sure. I'll do what I can." You'd think there would be more of a reaction. Like dude, at least blush like you did a moment ago. So in a way, this gives that some context. Maybe.**

 **Changes:**

 **In the original story, Hagakure told Kyoko to her face that he wanted to sell some of Naegi's organ as they would be lucky. And, yeah, especially when he's sick and defenseless, I'm sure pretty sure Kyoko would murder him on the spot so that was the first thing I knew I needed to change. Cause holy fuck Hagakure. I made him more likable.**

 **I also made it third person as I'm never comfortable writing first. I know I still can't get the characters nor I don't think I ever will so I'm not touching that.**

 **Comments:**

 **I tried to flesh out some of the subthemes of the story but I dunnow how that went. One thing I like yet dislike about Japanese writing is that there's very little explaining, mostly dialogue and action. I like that you can interpret how people feel but at the same time some days you just want that fluffy prose.**

 **I'm not too sure why Kyoko gets so emotional but I tried my best to go with it.**

 **But yeah, I really enjoyed this. Shot 1006 is probably second favorite Naegiri writer on pixiv so go check out his stuff if you can read japanese. He just posted the fourth part today too.**


	2. Side: Future

**Disclaimer: I own neither the characters nor the series. This fic is based/adapted from 私の誕生日パーティーと三十分のbirthday：前編**

* * *

It was a quiet night.

The moon shone brightly in the sky. The trees shook from the gentle sway of the wind. Even the insects seemed to be sleeping, the air lacking the buzzing noise they provided.

In a certain empty classroom, it was anything but quiet.

"Happy Birthday to you!"

"Happy Birthday to you!"

"Happy Birthday-"

A sound of singing resonated within the room even if there were only five occupants. There was no background music. One of the singers was clearly tone deaf with how bad they sounded. At least he had that excuse over the others.

Still, the one who was on the receiving end of the song had found it all pleasant.

Four voices yelled in tandem her name before finally finishing the song"

"Kyoko-chan!"

"Kyoko-san!"

"Kirigiri-cchi!"

"…Kirigiri."

""Happy Birthday to you!""

The sounds of poppers being blown open immediately followed.

"Thank you, everyone…I'm glad."

Kirigiri Kyoko rewarded her friends with a smile straight from the bottom of her heart.

* * *

The date was October 6 and the birthday of one Kirigiri Kyoko.

Just like last year, her friend, Asahina Aoi planned to throw her a birthday party and just like last year Kyoko had tried to refuse only to be rebuffed by Asahina's enthusiasm. She put up even less resistance this year and Kyoko knew she'd even have less the following years after.

The swimmer even had the idea to invite the rest of the Future Foundation, but Kyoko put a stop to that. It seemed ridiculous to her for whole Foundation to stop just for a personal birthday.

Instead, Asahina settled, yes, settled, for just the remaining survivors of the 78th class as well as Naegi's sister, Komaru. This increased their annual total number of party goers from four to a whopping five.

"Here we go. Here we go."

The oldest of the celebrants, Yasuhiro Hagakure, placed a large round cake at the center of their table, which consisted simply of a few desks pushed together then covered by a white blanket. The cake was a simple one, with white icing and several lit pink candles at the center equal to her current age.

In the back of head, Kyoko couldn't help but think of the whole thing as a fire hazard.

"Come on, Kyoko-san! Blow it out! Blow it out!" Komaru insisted on the side, her eyes lighting up orange by the flames. Kyoko tried not to think about how that familiar shade of dark green was had so easily captured her attention for a second.

Instead, she decided to oblige the girl's request "Understood."

She turned to the cake in front of her and, used one hand to hold her long hair up to prevent them getting to close to the flame. Then with one hefty blow, she blew out every flame out with one breath.

"Nice one, Kyoko-chan! All in one go!" Asahina clapped next to her as Hagakure stood up to switch the light back on. "You really have to do this kinda thing on your birthday!"

"I don't know about that," spoke up Hagakure as he got back to his seat. "After a certain number, you start to not want to remember…."

"Shush you! We're still young! We're still young!" protested Asahina although it seemed more like she was convincing herself than protesting.

"…Tch. I've done no such thing on my birthday."

"Then we'll do it on Toko-chan's birthday, as well!"

"Well, I didn't mean that in a jealous way…"

Kyoko would always still be surprised on how well the two hit off. It helped that Komaru seemed to help tone down Fukawa's…Fukawa-ness for lack of a better term.

"Anyways, let's eat some cake!" Out of seemingly nowhere, Komaru pulled out a sharp kitchen knife. Fukawa next to her jumped away from the sudden movement.

"Oy! Where did you even get that thing?"

"Eh?" Komaru innocently tilted her head. "I found it in one of the old dormitory bathrooms."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"I-I'm just kidding!" yelled Komaru to distill the suddenly tense air around her. "I got it from the school's kitchen!"

"Why don't I do the cutting instead, Koma-cchi?" Hagakure offered as he lowered the beaded rosary he had pointed at the woman. "I baked the cake myself so I brought my own knife just in case."

Komaru put away the knife…somewhere and let the older man divide the cake. She did have to ask one thing though, "When you mean baked…."

"I mean I made it alright! Why does everyone ask that?" Hagakure shook his head before turning to Kyoko. "How many slices?"

The obvious answer would be five. There were only five people in the room who could eat the cake but…

"Eight."

"You got it." Without another word, he sliced the round cake at the center, then the center of those two halves, then two more for those quarters. "Kinda looks like a pizza now."

He then distributed a slice to each person, leaving three slices. Thankfully, the cake was rather wide so helpings were still generous.

Kyoko used a plastic fork to take a piece of her slice and led it to her mouth. She would never get used to how surprisingly good it was.

"Amazing! Good job on the cake again, Hagakure!" Aoi complimented as she brought another portion to her mouth. "

"Hehe! Well, of course." Hagekure held his own fork in the air, the piece of cake attached threatening to fall odd. "I got taught by my mom and she's perfect at all the mom stuff, ya know! I'm even did it for free! No charges attached!"

That last statement only got Asahina to narrow her eyes in suspicion. "…. Liar. You're definitely planning something weird again! What's the plan this time?"

"You're terrible, Asahina-cchi! Have faith in your long-time friends! That was a long time ago! I'm the new true Hagakure Yasuhiro, especially with my new crystal ball!" The clairvoyant held up a glass ball surrounded by tacky gold dragons.

"See that Komaru-chan! That's what the type of person you don't want to grow up into." whispered Asahina to the just a year younger girl who nodded along.

"Oy! Listen to me will you!"

Kyoko continued eating her cake quietly, content with watching the three animatedly talk with each other.

They really were all on good terms.

"…tch. They're as noisy as always, that swimming idiot and the idiot idiot."

Kyoko turned to her side to see Fukawa sit down next to her, eating her own piece of cake little by little.

"…I didn't expect you'd come. Thank you for coming, Fukawa-san."

Of the six survivors, Kyoko and Fukawa had the least interactions with one another. Kyoko always thought it was just a natural part of their characters. One easily proclaimed her love to another but hid the secret of being a serial killer. The other was a detective who reveled in the truth and the less said about how closed she was on "proclamations of love" the better.

 _'Maybe, if I was better, this wouldn't be…no…I shouldn't think about it'_

Even knowing those differences, Kyoko was honestly happy the other woman could attend.

"…Ah, well, you…indeed…we've known of each other for a long time now…I'm just…willing to at least show up."

Even if Fukawa averted her eyes when she replied, Kyoko knew it was miles different from before she had gone to Towa City. She seemed to have opened her heart more although in her own unique way.

"After all, Komaru is way too enthusiastic," murmured the writer as she shoved another piece of cake into her mouth. In front of the two of them, the younger girl had brought out that knife of hers once more and Hagakure looked to be trying to do some sort of exorcism.

When Komaru had introduced Touko as her best friend, Kyoko wasn't too surprised from her own previous experience. It was only when Touko did the same that Kyoko actually raised an eyebrow. It seemed that the two had developed a strong bond during their survival in Towa City. She really didn't think anyone could be able to befriend Fukawa and even accept her alternate self. But, if anyone could do it-

 _'She is "his" sister after all…"_

"…Are you jealous"

"…What?" Kyoko turned to Fukawa who suddenly spoke up.

"…No. it's nothing." Fukawa hadn't even turned to her, still watching the two do their pseudo-exorcism.

"If you have something to say, please say it."

"…I'll give it more effort next time," was the only response she got.

Kyoko wanted to ask more but instead kept silent.

"It's finally time!" Suddenly, Asahina. who had disappeared earlier, showed up again holding large bag much like Santa Claus. "Present time!"

She walked in to see-"…what are you two doing?"

"Nothing!"/ "Nothing here, Asahina-cchi!" cried the two as they stood up from their spots on the chalk diagram drawn on the floor back to their original seats.

"Okay then." Asahina ignored it and placed the bag next to Kyoko.

"Hold on." Kyoko spoke up. "A birthday party is one thing but including presents seem a bit excessive."

She had already assumed that the whole party was already everyone's gift to her much like last year.

"Don't be shy, Kyoko-chan," exclaimed Asahina as she pulled out her present from the bag. "You've helped us out a lot! We're friends!"

"That's right, Kyoko-san!" agreed Komaru, pulling out her own gift. "I've already prepared it so you might as well accept it!"

Kyoko could only stare helplessly at the two bright eyes and shining smiles of the women in front of her. She turned for help to Fukawa but was surprised to see the writer take out what looked to be a manuscript from the gift bag.

Fukawa immediately noticed her look and fliched before slowly holding out the bundle of papers.

"Well, if it's just once a year…you should be obedient and celebrate it for once…. unless you don't want a gift from someone ugly and smelly like me…"

"Such a thing…"

"Just accept it Kirigi-cchi! A couple more years and you'll hate hearing about your birthday approaching. You might as well enjoy it while it lasts!"

"…you lack delicacy, Hagakure"

At her words, Hagakure pulled out his own gift which looked to be in a brown paper bag much to her surprise. She had even taught the cake was already his gift.

"…At this point, it would be too rude to refuse." For once, Kyoko allowed herself to enjoy the care peppered on to her. "I will accept your gifts. Thank you, everyone."

Even though she was neve able to remember all the missing memories Enoshima had taken from her, Kyoko still knew that she never had such a large event to celebrate her birthday. Her grandfather was far too strict to throw a party and for a long time she never had any real friends. She liked to think maybe her high school self had celebrated her birthday with the rest of the 78th class once but that she knew it was wishful thinking on her part.

Really, all of this warmed her heart.

"Kyoko-chan! Kyoko-chan! Open mine first!"

"Is it okay?" Kyoko blinked. She had planned to open the presents back in her room so she was surprised when Asahina placed a blue box into Kyoko's lap.

"Of course! That's part of the fun! No one knows what everyone else prepared so we could all take a good look!" Asahina turned to the others. "Is that okay?"

"I…it's a bit embarrassing but it should be fine," admitted Komaru.

"It's not like you can't already guess what I'm giving…so that means I can't be bullied anymore! "pointed out Fukawa as she held up her unwrapped gift

"Should be okay with me!"

"Well, then I'll open Asahina's first." Kyoko held up the blue box in her hand as she was watched Asahina watched nearby with a sparkle in her eye.

"Oy…isn't that." Hagakure nudged Fukawa.

"She couldn't have…" muttered the writer back.

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Komaru to no one.

Their reactions came not from the wrapping but from the shape of the box. It was flat and rectangulat. For anyone, this could have been anything but for Asahina Aoi to give this…

Kyoko opened the box to confirm her suspicions. "Donuts…right?"

She flipped the cover open and indeed there were twelve round pastries in a row.

"Oi you!" Fukawa pointed to the offender. "No matter how much your character revolves around donuts…to think you'd give it as birthday gift!"

Asahina pouted. "I thought it'd be better to give something familiar that I know she'd like than something strange."

"Thank you, Asahina-san. I'm sure I will find them deliscious." Asahina grinned at the words.

"Fufufu! Fukawa-chan and Kyoko-chan don't seem to understand how special the donuts I've give are."

"Er…is that so?" Kyoko lifted the lid again to check the box but only saw the same plain brown chocolate donuts.

"I can't use words! Seeing is believing! Eating is believing! That's the only true way to enjoy a donut! Go on and take a bite!"

At Asahina's encouragement, Kyoko took a single donut and raised it to her mouth before stopping.

"…You did not put anything strange, here did you?"

"What! Of course not!"

"I apologize. I said something rude." Still, Kyoko observed the donut with her keen eyesight to see if there really was anything different about it. Seeing nothing out of order, she took a cautious bite.

"Oh? This is…Coffee?"

Because she had taught they were originally chocolate, the taste of coffee beans came as a pleasant surprise to her tongue.

"That's right!" Asahina looked proud as she stood straight with her hands on her hips. "It's my special handmade donuts!"

"You made it yourself, Asahina-san?" Komaru asked, now kind of wanting to try them out herself.

"Yep! Its fun making your favorite thing! I did say once I'll try making them and I did! There's also another special part, Kyoko-chan…"

"This flavor…" Kyoko licked the inside of her mouth. "Luwak coffee?"

"That's our detective!" Asahina raised a thumbs up. "I heard it was your favorite flavor of coffee so I got some. It wasn't easy but seeing your face was worth it!"

"Well, it was truly delicious, Asahina-san." Kyoko closed the box of donuts and placed it on the table and picked up another present. It was slightly larger and rounder than Asahina's box and wrapped in red and yellow. It was also almost half her size.

"I believe this is Komaru-san's."

"Oh, um. I don't know how I could beat that." She scatched her cheek with a single finger, slight embarrassment in her eyes. It was such an uncannily similar sight that Kyoko had to force herself to look away and instead focus on the present.

"It's not a competition." She wondered if it was something handmade as well. She just hoped it wasn't more food. First the cake, then the donuts, if there was any more sweets she'd have to start worrying about her weight.

She carefully undid the wrapping paper, careful not to break the surprisingly large gift to reveal a…

"A stuffed toy?" To be more specific, it was a large capybara with a brown coat.

She held it up to see its googly eyes shift left to right. Oddly enough, each limb was also different in length. It was also not as thick and fluffy as one would expect from a stuff toy. There was also some weird tattoo on its thigh. However, the biggest question was…

"Why a capybara?" even if it was Fukawa who asked that was the question in everyone else's mind. Kyoko knew she had never talked to Komaru on her favorite animal.

"Ah well," Komaru turned away from her best friend's look. "I was actually going to ask what Kyoko-san's favorite animal was but she may have been able to notice if it was for a gift.

Kyoko nodded at the logic. If Komaru had suddenly brought up the topics of favorite animals to her, it would've been too suspicious. She must've been too scared to spoil the surprise.

"Hmm." Kyoko turned to the younger girl with her signature stoic look. "If I told you I hated capybara's what would you do then?"

"Eh!? Well…it's okay isn't. it?" Komaru looked up at her tearfully, a worried frown on her face.

"Just a joke." Kyoko held it up the toy again to avoid the girl's teary look. Really, their figures were just too similar. "Don't worry, I like capybara's. This stuffed toy is…cute, as well now that take a look at it."

She especially like the brown fur and the way a piece of hair stood defiantly at the top of its head. Plus it looked so dopey looking that she couldn't help but find think of him when she sees it.

Meanwhile, Komaru collapsed on her chair releasing a sigh of relief. "S-safe!...How does he do it…"

"Komaru?!"

"Well, next should be, Hagakure-san's."

However, instead of the brown paper bag, a manuscript was dropped on Kyoko's lap.

Shrugging, Kyoko picked it up and read through the initial pages quickly as Fukawa and Asahina tried to revive Komaru who looked to have fainted from the pressure.

"Oh, is this perhaps a mystery novel?"

She had expected initially a romance story but just from the first chapter it was clear it was setting up to a mystery. The most obvious being that the main character was a female detective who had her own scrappy Watson-esque assistant.

"Well…you should like mystery novels, right? Being a detective and all that." Even as she replied to Kyoko, Fukawa averted her eyes.

"Well, as cliché as it is, it is my favorite genre, yes." Although really, what detective didn't love mystery novels? Kyoko remembered a fondness reading English detective novels as she had grown up abroad. It was only recently that she had tried to get into the Japanese canon of mystery novels although finding copies of those were harder after the Tragedy.

"…Then I'll have to tell you…Byakuya-sama heped as well.

"Togami-san?" Kyoko was surprised to hear the scion's name and the word help next to each other. While in recent years the blonde had grown "gentler", it was still a surprise to hear that he'd help out Fukawa to right the novel.

"Huhuhu…. a collaboration with Byakuya-sama…that is the crystallization of our love…be grateful that you could read it…huhuhu." Fukawa started drooling as her gaze started becoming unfocused. It was the recently revived Komaru's turn to get her back to the reality.

"Actually," It was Hagakure who started to explain. "After the Fukawa-cchi wrote the novel, I showed it to Togami-cchi and he went, "Don't call such garbage a detective novel!", told her the trick was too obvious, and told her what to change and remove."

Kyoko didn't know what was more surprising: that Togami seemed to have pushed through all of Fukawa's delusional writings and read the whole novel just to improve it or that Hagakure could do a startlingly decent impression of the man.

"…so this is not the direct collaboration of Fukawa-san and Togami-?"

"Nope."

Kyouko almost wanted to see how the initial manuscript would have looked. She couldn't help but wonder if the detective and her assistant didn't have a chaste a relationship in pre-Togami drafts.

"Ah! So do you want my novel or not!"

 _'Oh, she's back.'_

Kyoko allowed a small smirk to enter her lips. "Obviously. If it's the collaboration of Fukawa-san and Togami then I'll be sure to read it. I'm looking forward to it."

It didn't help that the Tragedy had pretty much killed off most famous writers. The riots had also caused a disgusting amount of book burnings. As a person who was part of the "reading is my only hobby" group, Kyoko had found the finding new undamaged worthwhile books difficult.

But a mystery novel written by the former Ultimate Writing Prodigy which was further supervised by the former Ultimate Scion? She just had to wait for a rainy day.

"Huhuhu…well, once you finish it, I'd like to ask your impressions.

"Understood."

It was even nice of the writer to write something outside of her field just for Kyoko. Although, she wouldn't mind a hint of romance for the two investigators as long as it didn't get in the way of the mystery.

Well, it was at least guaranteed to be better than the literary adaptations of the Killing School Life broadcast.

Speaking of terrible mysteries, there was only one present left.

"Alright! My turn, Kirigi-cchi! Time for the gift I prepared!"

"…A gift from Hagakure…I can't really expect anything."

"…Um, are you sure it's not actually borrowed debt?"

"…Kirigiri-san, maybe you should throw it away before you see it."

"What's with the cold reaction! Isn't' this too cruel!"

"Everyone please don't be rude." Kirigiri spoke up as she held the paper bag. "Even miracles can happen, and it may be a decent gift."

"Kirgiri-cchi's the coldest one!"

Ignoring the man, Kyoko opened the paper bag and look inside. "…what is this?"

"Let me see!" Asahina went over to peep into the bag as well. She tilted her head in confusion as she too couldn't identify a single thing in the bag. "I dunnow either."

"Haha! Be thankful Kirigi-cchi! That's an assortment of goods I've collected over the years!" Hagakure boasts much like Asahina did earlier but it didn't have the same effect as when the swimmer did it.

"…so you bought occult goods that don't even work but keep increasing your debts like an idiot…"

"That's different Fukawa-cchi! This stuff is the real deal! The genuine OOPart!"

"I had heard how Hagakure-san's in debt." Komaru murmured to herself. "But to think he's actually part of the occult."

Hagakure ignored her and grabbed the item in the bag and the explain them to Kyoko. "This here is a rosary that makes one obedient to their own feelings. This is a bracelet that could makes your body less tired. And this is a wooden carving of a beat that would give you better blood circulation."

 _'…they're not even beads or ornaments.'_ Kyoko thought as she looked at his gifts.

"Ah," Asahina decided to step in. "is there any reason you chose those specific items?"

"Well, Kirgiri-cchi is always working harder than other people so she's bound to be tired, right?"

"Maybe, you just don't work enough," retorted Fukawa under her breath. Hagakure didn't even notice as he continued

"Her complexion also always doesn't look that good.." pointed the fortuneteller out as he held up the bear statue.

"Hagakure, Kyoko-san just has a fair complexion! It's not from bad circulation," defended Komaru but soon there was a small murmur from Kyoko.

"…I wonder if I'm too pale."

"No! No! Kyoko-chan's skin's beautiful! Really, Hagakure, don't you have any delicacy?"

Asahina glared at the older man who could only hold his hands up in defense. To try to salvage what was left of his self-respect, Hagakure held up the last item which was the rosary.

"T-to be honest, this here's my real gift. I was supposed to give it to Naegi-cchi but he didn't show up at work today. The rosary would help him be honest with-" "You!"

Before he could speak anymore he was conked at the back of the head. "Yashidiot!"

"We told you not to talk about Onii-chan today!"

"…what?" was the only word that left Kyoko's mouth. She turned to the two women but they just looked away, guilt in their eyes. "What did you mean by that?"

"Oh if you're wondering," It was Fukawa who spoke up. "Komaru and the swimming idiot were worried about you because your husband left his wife for work on her birthday no less."

"…there's no wife or husband here." Kyoko murmured. She could only release a heavy sigh she hadn't realized she had been holding in before turning back to address Asahina and Komaru.

"While I appreciate your thoughtfulness, I'm also not a child that needs everyone to bend over so they could celebrate my birthday." She crossed her arms and gave them both a hard stare. "I understand that at Naegi-kun's position there are certain jobs that he can't ignore."

Yes, the days where Makoto Naegi could be referred to as "an ordinary high school boy" were long over. He was the Ultimate Hope who defeated Enoshima Junko, the Ultimate Despair and reminded the world that they could fight back. He was the survivor of another Killing Game orchestrated by the remnants of despair that had struck a heavy blow to the Future Foundation. He would be the future Headmaster of Hope's Peak academy after it was once again rebuilt.

(Except that other Killing Game was orchestrated by the president of the future foundation.)

Someone like him who was drawing attention all over the world should not be detained for a personal birthday.

It did not help that to cover up the second Killing Game, the reformed 77th class had released a video that made themselves, the Remnants of Despair, the culprit. This video only spurred on the remaining forces of despair. At the very least, they stopped hiding due to their new-found morale boost and were easier to find.

Today, he had important meetings with the future foundation and other staff about the reconstruction plan of the school. Kyoko knew because she had set them herself.

"…you don't have to be so frank about it…" murmured Fukawa."

"Please pardon my useless onii-chan" bowed Komaru.

Even Hagakure seemed amazed at Kyoko's words and bowed his head in apology.

 _'…I wasn't really thinking about it anyways.'_

"That's enough! That's enough! No more Naegi talk alright!" pepped Asahina as she tried to distill the murky mood that had overtaken the class room. "Let's just continue the party!"

Just as she said that, the distinct sound of footsteps that could be heard from the halls.

'Could it be…'

"I was told there was a party but I didn't realize just how a sorry sight it would be."

"Togami-cchi!"

"Byakuya-sama!"

By the door with a sullen look on his face and his trademark scowl stood Togami Byakuya dressed in ann expensive black suit.

 _'…It's not Naegi-kun.'_

"You weren't working today, Togami-san?" asked Kyouko as she tried to ignore the disappointment she felt as his arrival.

"I'm competent enough that I can take my time when hunting down remnants of despair."

Asahina approached him excitedly, "So then you're here to join the party?"

Togami scoffed at her question.

"Of course not. I don't have time to celebrate birthdays nor do I have the interest to. I only arrived because I had a delivery for you.:

"Delivery?" Komaru tilted her head.

Kyoko didn't remember anything she had ordered recently. People still sent Naegi and the other survivors a combination of thank you gifts, death threats, and…. underwear which could have fallen in either of the previous two categories.

 _'Maybe, if the delivery was a "someone" then…'_

Before she could finish her thought, a number of men wearing black suits entered the classroom, all of them carrying a large cardboard box with them.

"That's pretty large luggage," noted Asahina, confusion in her tone. The swimmer clearly didn't know who the boxes were from and, from how Hagakure and Komaru were staring with open mouths, neither did they. Only Fukawa was still staring at Togami.

"You'd better appreciate that it was my direct subordinates that bothered carrying this luggage around." Spoke up Togami.

"So this is what exactly?" asked Asahina as the other men left the room."

Togami crossed his arms and looked in the direction of the delivery. "It seems to be a birthday gift from the 77th class."

" The 77th class…" Kyoko disappointment settled in once again although at least now there was some curiosity mixed with it.

The 77th class who had entered the Neo World program were still in hiding as the "Remnants of Despair", no doubt helping the battle with despair in their own ways. However, even if she did admit that she had watched over them during their Killing School Trip, it wasn't like she was particularly close with any of them so the idea that they had prepared gifts for her was an oddly pleasant surprise. She supposed it was what a teacher felt when her students gave surprised her with a gift.

The only way they could even send something like this was through Togami and his direct subordinates as there shouldn't ever be a link between the rebuilt Hope Academy and the Remnant's of Despair or it would easily lead to the shutting down of the school before it even opened.

"To think the day that Togami Byakuya would be chored to do home delivery. Kirgiri, don't think this doesn't come cheap."

She wanted to point out that it's not like she asked for it but Kyoko instead decided it wasn't worth it.

"I appreciate the delivery. I'm sure I'll recompense you in some form, Togami."

"Hmph, see to it," smirked the blonde.

"I guess he has some surprisingly good points," nodded Komaru as she smacked the bottom of one fist to her palm. She still didn't see what Touko saw in the guy but then again, she also didn't get what someone like Kyoko would see in her brother.

"What are you saying! Byakuya-sama is full of good points! He's like a line of good points!"

Ignoring the rabble, Togami drew his gaze across the classroom, trying to locate a familiar brown antenna.

"Oy. Where's Naegi?"

"Ah, Naegi-kun…" Just as Kyoko was about to reply to him, she was interrupted by Hagakure who answered for her.

"If you're looking for Naegi-cchi, he didn't come today. He's too busy at work."

At his words, Togami simply raised an eyebrow before turning to Kyoko, his chin held high.

"Hmmm…As odd as it sounds, currently, his job is better and more important than yours. Maybe, he got bored of you?"

Kyoko wanted to correct him that Naegi couldn't get bored because there was nothing to get bored with because the two of them weren't in a relationship.

Instead, she just murmured, "That might be the truth."

Not expecting her to agree with him so pathetically, Togami threw an intense glare at Kyoko and clicked his tongue in anger. "Tch..!"

"Hey! That was awful!"

"Calm down Asahina-cchi! You know Togami-cchi's not serious about what he says. Just leave it."

As Hagakure tried to calm Asahina down, Fukawa excitedly approached the still incensed Byakuya.

"Will…will you be staying for the party, Byakuya-sama?"

"Do not move so close to my face. You still stink." She complied inching backwards. "I thought I would could spare you some time but unlike the rest of you I have work to do. In the first place, there is no law that indicates I need to celebrate Kirgiri's birthday."

As he turned to leave, Kyouko stood up to follow him. "…Should I go as well? You may need more hands."

"Kyoko-chan?!"

Togami glared over his shoulder, "Help? A Togami doesn't need help. Are you forgetting that I came all this way just to deliver you your presents? If you want to "help", then stay right there and don't waste the favor I had bestowed upon you."

And with that, he left without another word.

"Hey, guys, let's start opening this up!" exclaimed Komaru who was standing right next to the large box. She had long learned that the easiest way to put up with Togami Byakuya was to just ignore the guy.

Asahina sent a worried glance to Kyoko who only returned a shrug. "Well, I am interested in what our senpai had sent us. Although, I have to wonder how they learned of my birthday."

"Ah!" Asahina yelped in realization. "I think I told Hanamura when he was teaching me how to make donuts."

"Wasn't that chibi a grade above us? You should use an honorific when you address that perverted hick. Show some respect"

"…Aren't you doing much worse, Fukawa-cchi?"

Asahina looked up, a finger on her mouth, "Well, when he was helping me out make donuts, he told me it was okay to talk like students so we'd be in sync but I just dropped the honorific because it's easier."

Kyoko immediately notice an important detail. "Asahina-san, did he teach you how to make donouts directly."

"Yup!" was her cheery reply. "I was secretly taught in the school kitchen with the help of Togami's subordinates at the time!"

"….It would have been really bad if you were both found out."

"Ah! Yeah… sorry, Kyoko-chan," apologized Asahina. She looked like she wanted to bow so Kyoko hurried her response.

"Well, what's done is done. And thanks to that I got a nice present. Fortunately, if even I hadn't heard of it, then no one else important has." She showed a small smirk before giving Asahina a level stare of warning. "Next time, you want to contact the 77th students, only do it through me or Togami."

"Yes! I'm really sorry again, Kyoko-chan!"

As Asahina's smile returned, Fukawa approached her worried.

"Making donuts with just the two of you…you weren't sexually harassed, were you?"

The swimmer shook her head. "Not that I could recall really."

Even Kyoko was surprised on the restraint the cook had shown. Was it just Asahina's purity? Or was he really a different person. She hadn't known them enough after they had been reformed to draw a conclusion.

Suddenly there was a shriek as Asahina hugged Fukawa's arm.

"Hehe. It's unusual for Fukawa-chan to worry about me. Thanks."

"…I was just wondering what you were doing that's all."

"Yeah yeah. Fukawa-chan. You should really learn to be more honest."

"Noisy. Stupid." The writer pulled away from Asahina and made her way to Komaru though it didn't seem to upset the swimmer too much.

Eventually the five of them all gathered around the large box.

"It's already open?"

"Sorry, you guys were taking too long" apologized Komaru as she once again held up her knife.

"It's fine." Kyoko then flipped the lid of the box open and looked inside.

At the very top was a pink bottle of liquid. Kyoko took it out and read the label. "This looks to be a health drug from Tsukimi-san. I'm sure it will be effective if she chose it. It seems to be good for colds."

Of all her upperclassmen, Kyoko found herself closest to the nurse for the simple reason that she had saved her back in the final Killing Game. Even now, she would ask consultations from her over a secure line.

Next, she took out a laminated piece of paper. Written on it was a list of ingredients and cooking instructions. It was also surprisingly detailed.

"This is Hanamura-san's."

Hagakure took a glance at the paper, "Curry rice? You liked curry Kirgiri-cchi?"

"I don't mind it but I don't have any special preferences for food." admitted Kyoko.

To be honest, the recipe looked intimidating as she embarrassingly never leaned to cook. When she was younger, she preferred fast food she could pick up on the go. Food that could last long for stake outs were also a go to for her. Even back in the Future Foundation, she was simply too busy to cook any number of meals a day.

"Curry rice." Komaru tilted her head. "Maybe, it's for onii-chan?"

"…Indeed" agreed Kyoko. "Naegi-kun loves curry rice."

"Ah! S-sorry." Komaru looked away embarrassed that she was heard. She still seemed careful not to let Kyoko think about Naegi.

 _'Naegi-kun's favorite. Maybe I should try making it'_ An image of a smiling Naegi happy eating the curry she had made popped into Kyoko's head and she concluded that the gift wasn't too bad.

Kyoko replaced the recipe with the next gift.

"It looks like a music player?"

"Let me listen!" Komaru wore the earphones that came with the player and pressed play. And then pressed stop after a total of five seconds. She then immediately removed the earphones and handed it back to Kyoko, her focus in her eyes much darker than they were before.

"That black birthday song…I think I just saw a nightmare."

"Tch..that stupid high tension woman…she should use her talents in better genres" grumbled Fukawa as she supported Komaru who looked to be close to losing consciousness.

Kyoko put down Ibuki's gift next to the others.

The next one looked difficult for Kyoko so it was Asahina who lifted the dumbbell out of the box.

Hagakure reached in when he noticed a memo that had fallen off the dumbbell. "This looks like a training program? It's probably that robot guy."

"Owari-san must've wanted Kyoko-chan to get stronger with this." Asahina did a few experimental curls before placing it down next to the others. "Although, she may want to battle you after."

The next gift was a fan with a beautiful pattern design. "This must be from Saionji-san".

There was also a notebook on instructions on various dances. Kyoko guessed this was the woman's direct way in telling her to teach them at Hope's Peak was rebuilt. While she wasn't as attached to the country compared to the dancer, Kyoko made a mental note to check how their current curriculum may needed arts and culture as well.

"W…what is this?!" Kyoko turned to Fukawa who had a book in her hand. It was obvious that the writer must've been interested to see what her upperclassmen could write. However, when everyone else had approached her to see the problem, they saw something unexpected.

"Ah, it's Naegi-kun."

It wasn't a book but a photo album

"Oho! That's us! There's Naegi-cchi and me and that's you Asahina-cchi!"

The picture showed everyone from their class wearing the brown uniforms of Hope's Peak Academy.

Every picture in the album showed everyone bright and happy with smiles on their faces. It was the perfect image of a peaceful and comfortable school life.

It would be hard to think soon after the Tragedy would strike.

"Oh…! Sakura…! It's Sakura-chan!"

There's Kuwata-cchi, Oowada-cchi, …. here's Fujisaki-cchi wearing bloomers."

Asahina's face was a mixture of joy and loneliness while Hagakure had a rare look of restraint on his face as he suppressed his emotions

If this was a week, a month, even a year after they were released, Kyoko knew the two would be crying their eyes out but, at this point, they had grown too much, already made too many real connections with other people to be that saddened over erased relationships they'll never know about.

As cold as it sounded, Kyoko, never truly found herself distraught over her dead classmates. Maybe, it was because she had made sure to keep her distance from everyone but a short lucky boy. Maybe, it was because she had also lost more memories than the rest of them. Or maybe she had no reason and was just that cold-hearted.

"…There's Yamada and Ceres and Ishimaru, they're all having fun playing some card game…"

Even Fukawa had refrained from her usual insults. Her eyes scrunched up as she just called the dead by their names.

Komaru who couldn't have any relation to the deceased watched without much change in her expression. However, she did feel _something_ which was why she not a single word was said after every flip of the page.

The next page caught Kyoko's breath as she felt her body tense.

 _'…Maizono'_

In the picture, Sayaka Maizono and Naegi were smiling side by side, facing the camera.

She felt pain as her chest tightened. It was a feeling she had experienced multiple times over the years and yet it was only now that she understood what it was.

 _'To be jealous of someone already gone…how ugly'_

She turned away and sighed to herself in secret as everyone was still too busy looking over the album. She already knew that if all those pictures were only of the class smiling then she wouldn't be in it. Compared to today, there was nothing that could have put a smile on her face back then. At least there didn't seem to be any pictures of Enoshima and Ikusaba although she was sure Naegi would be the only one who would feel saddened by that fact.

The Kirigiri Kyoko back then would have preferred investigations over staying in class. She would have told off her father on the first day then made plans to leave in a year or even a semester. She would have pushed everyone away and there were no plated windows and locked doors to force her to interact with people and them her.

"Oh, there's a picture of Kyoko-chan!"

"What?" Asahina's words snapped Kyoko out of her funk, depression being replaced by surprise. She turned to the album to see what kind of picture was taken and…

It was of a younger Naegi Makoto and younger Kirigiri Kyoko smiling together as they shared one umbrella.

"Woah, Kyoka-san! That's a dangerous smile you have there."

"That's right, Komaru-san. A girl can't show such a smile to a teenage boy. He might get ideas, you know?"

Kyoko ignored their wide grins with a pointed cough as she continued staring at the picture.

 _'… a truly natural smile.''_

Back in school, she knew she would've tried to ignore men as much as possible but the girl in the picture was relaxed as she kept close to the boy holding the umbrella.

 _'So even back then…I wasn't alone …'_

Even if it was just one picture, a weight she never knew she had was lifted in the back of her mind. In exchange, an uncomfortably warm feeling spread throughout her body as she felt immense gratitude for a boy she'd never know for reaching out to a girl she'd never know as well.

After they were done with the Koizumi-san's album, they moved on to the next gifts.

"First a picture book of fluffy animals and an DVD of some detective anime." It was surely Pekoma-san and MItarai-san. If it was chosen by both of them, that means they both were definitely top notch.

The picture book would be something nice to look at after being tired from work and was already interested in seeing the detective anime. Maybe, she could invite Naegi to watch it with her?

Fukawa picked up another book only this time her face scrunched in disgust. "'100 ways to deceive people'. Ugh..it's from that fake who dares copy Byakuya-sama. It's actually a surprisingly normal gift."

"Let me see that!" cried Hagakure as he snatched the book from Fukawa's hands and started reading it.

"Oh look at this one!" Asahina needed two arms to hold the box she had found with gorgeous wrapping and lace ribbons holding it together. "It's pretty big. Who do you think it's from?"

"Possibly, Nevermind-san," deuced Kyoko. "Only she'd have access to such intricate wrapping. Or even bothered to.

"Then let's open it" cheered Komaru excited to see what could be inside such pretty wrapping.

Right before, Asahina was about to hand it to Kyoko, a rattling sound came from the within the box. Immediately, Kyoko withdrew her fingers while Asahina nervously and slowly placed the box on the ground.

…rattle.

…rattle.

…Thunk.

…Thunk.

It was clear that whatever was inside the box was moving.

"…."

"…."

"…."

From within the box, an odd croaking sound was heard followed by beeping then more rattling.

"Should we still open it?" asked Komaru, not as excited as she was earlier. "I mean, it's probably something alive right?"

"As much as I think it's harmless, we can't take that risk. It may attack us or have a disease we're not immune to." Kyoko had heard about how the Princess' kingdom contained many rare animals such as the Makango. However, Makango's were only related to matrimony and not birthdays. "I'll give her a call and ask the details before opening it later.

With much effort, Hagakure was convinced to move the box to one corner of the classroom. Whenever they all stopped talking, it was easy to hear the box's rattling.

The next gift was a sake bottle from Kuzuryuu-san. Kyoko didn't really partake in drinking but she could appreciate what would be great alcohol. They were all adults already anyways.

The next after were large transparent plastic bags filled with brown grains that looked like cat food. On it were instructions.

"Is this its food?" asked Hagakure as he removed the bags from the box.

"Well, at least we know that thing doesn't eat people." sighed Komaru as she glanced nervously to the box at the corner of the room.

Asahina read the instruction that came with he bags. "If you use this offering to sate the bloodlust of the magic beast of darkness. It is only proper to do so under the gaze of a bloody moo-Oh there's normal instructions on the back."

Kyoko rubbed her chin. "I'm only worried that my apartment doesn't allow pets, nor do I have to time to look after on. I don't want to send it back unless I need to so I may need to let someone else look after ti for a while.

The four exchanged glances before quickly going back to the cardboard box to change the topic.

"Hey look at this!" Komaru reached in and pulled out a pair of round glasses. She slid them on with a smirk. "Now we match Touk-woah this thing's freaky!"

Kyoko picked up the case Komaru had left in the box. It contained instructions as well what looked like stickers. "It seems Kazuichi-san made "Culprit tracking glasses".

She had seen it in a manga Naegi had lent her and it looked like Kazuichi read it too as he went out of his way to invent it.

"So you just place this sticker on someone…"Komaru placed a sticker on Asahina's back. "then you can follow a perp anywhere right?"

She donned glasses again which showed a compass that pointed towards the swimmer's direction where Komaru moved.

"But if you think about it, couldn't people just use it for stalking others?" Asahina pointed out.

Komaru took off the pair of once more only to see her best friend staring at the glasses in her hands, almost hungrily.

She immediately handed it back to Kyoko who mentally noted to seal it away. It's not like she needed something like that anyways.

Next was another of the gadgets from the manga, the voice changing bowtie. This time made by Hinata-san. Kyoko wondered if the two had bonded over the manga recently before making these things. It was even possible they had talked about it with Mitarai when he chose his own gift for her.

"Isn't that the guy with like all the powers or something?" Asked Komaru not familiar with any of the remnants besides one.

"Well, sorta." Hagakure shrugged. "Why he uses them on this instead of getting us gold with some sort of Ultimate Gold Digger talent is beyond me."

"Well, at least the stuff he makes is fun." Komaru twiddled with the bowtie as she looked at the instructions. It looked like there were only a few preset voices on the thing. Most of the names were what she guessed the rest of the class but thankfully, she knew two of them.

She switched on the "Togami Byakuya" voice.

"[Toko, I love you!]"

"D-don't imitate Byakuya-sama's voice, Komaru!" chastised Touko angrily. "You're not hard enough! You need more anger! More disgust."

"[…Ugh. I regret this now.]" honestly spoke Komaru but that only seemed to get her best friend breathing harder. She had to change quickly before it got weird.

She switched on the only other name she recognized.

"[Kirigiri-san is cute!]"

"!"

"[Kirgiri-san, I-]" Before she could finish, her head snapped back from a flick of Asahina's fingers. She hadn't even noticed the older woman get so close.

"Don't joke around. Let's look at the next gift."

Taking off the bowtie, Komaru bowed her head as she handed it over. "Sorry, Kyoko-san."

"….it didn't bother me."

…

Kyoko placed the bowtie on the pile of presents she had received

Medicine, a curry recipe, an original birthday song, a training regimen, a dumbbell, a fan and a notebook of dance routines, an album of smiles, a fluffy animal collection, a dvd of a detective anime, a book on deceiving people, a…pet?, sake, pet(?) food, culprit tracking glasses, and a voice changing bow tie.

To think she had received so many things. She made a mental note to check again when the birthdays of the 77th Class were so she could at least return the favor.

There was still one more, however.

"….So the last is Komaeda-kun's."

"Eh…"

"Oh, the perverted Naegi clone…"

Of course, Fukawa and Komaru would be the least trusting of the man, especially since they had direct contact with him.

"It's fine. He's not in despair anymore." As she said that, Kyoko took out a small elongated box. It was around the same size of the one she kept in her drawer that she had received almost a year before. She opened it to reveal.

"A flower?"

"Somehow, it's not surprising, huh?

As Komaru and Fukawa looked over the gift, Kyoko said the name of the flower.

"A Gerbera daisy." It was a simple thing, with a green stalk and white petals. However, what made it more amazing was that, it was clearly real. In the world where the atmosphere has been polluted for years, who else but the Ultimate Luckster could find such a thing?

"I thought he'd bring something crazier but now it's sorta anticlimactic, right?"

"It's not really like that servant, right? Wasn't all about bigger and bigger things?"

"In flower language, the white Gerbera means hope," supplied Kyoko. "If he really did love hope from the bottom of his heart, then it's a wonderful gift."

Placing the flower with the rest of the gifts (excluding the box), Kyoko couldn't help but feel closer to people she's only learned off through a virtual screen. These were people who had not only saved her, but all the 78th survivors who were involved in the Final Killing Game.

All because one person thought they deserved a chance.

She never thought she'd receive so many gifts on a birthday.

"Just looking through all of these was hard work." Komaru stretched her arms over her head. "I hope we won't have to do this for everyone's birthdays."

…

"Hehe, if you think we're done here, Komaru-chi. Then you're wrong on that count!" With cryptic words, Hagakure reached into his pocket to bring out silky black box.

Komaru stared at the box. "Are there still more of the 77th class?"

"No, that should have been all of them." Pointed out Asahina as she mentally counted how many they were.

"...Ah, I believe I understand." Kyoko accepted the box and opened it to reveal a luxurious watch. There was no one else who could afford such a thing for a gift and leave it to Hagakure Yasuhiro, of all people.

"Jeez, that guy," pouted Asahina as she admired the watch." "Can't he be honest for once? I'm sure he said something like 'I have no obligation to celebrate Kirigiri's birthday but it's not like I can't prepare any gifts.'"

"Don't you dare make a mockery of Byakuya-sama, you are swimming idiot! You're not like him at all, not one millimiter!"

"Pfffftttt…" Meanwhile, Komaru held her hands to her mouth, trying to suppress her laughter as not to incite Touko's wrath who instead turned to Kyoko.

"And you! Don't you misunderstand Kirigiri! Just because he gave you a gift doesn't means he like you!"

"I know." Kirigiri combed her hair in annoyance.

"He's a strange form of tsundere." Hagakure concluded as he nodded his head sagely.

….

"Now that, present time is done, how about some drinks?" Asahina appeared with another bag. From within, she pulled out a few bottles of various liquor and a few glasses.

"Drinking?"

"To think Asahina-cchi, would prepare drinks.

"And don't worry, Komaru-chan, I prepared some juice."

"…I'm just a year younger than you guys. Hit me up."

"Coke for you then."

"Boo!" complained Komary but she accepted the drink.

After all the drinks were poured and distributed, Asahina raised her cup high.

"To forgetting our worries!"

With a loud clink, the rest of them raised up and touched glasses.

Kyouko took a sip of her own drink. The sake Asahina had prepared was delicious.

"Sake," She murmured aloud the word as the face of a man came to her mind. Kizakura Koichi, someone who had also saved her life during the final killing game.

 _"If he was alive, would have also celebrated with us?"_

If he was still alive, he could have told her more about her father.

"Kirigiri-san, is something wrong?" To her surprise, it was Fukawa who had asked. "Your complextion looks awful. Well, worse, at least."

"Oh! Kyoko-chan? I'm sorry if you didn't like the sake I brought, I'm sure I could still-"

"It's fine, Asahina-san. It's delicious" Kyouko calmed the woman down as she tried to calm herself as well. "I… just remembered something a while ago. I'm sorry, if I made you worry.

The swimmer didn't look convinced, but she at least didn't pursue the subject. "Not just the taste, I've prepared enough alcohol to get us through the whole night! So drink up! Drink up.! Let's drink all night long!"

"Let's do it then!" To Asahina's shout, Hagakure returned with the same amount of high tension. Already there were numerous bottles around him. It because of his older age, he had already gotten used to drinking.

"I want to drink too." Komaru pouted into her coke. The sight made Kyoko smile.

"Then, next time when you're 21, let's drink together."

"Really, Kyoko-san? It's a promise!"

She smiled happily at Kyoko's words and with some embarrassment raised her pinky.

Kyoko couldn't help but mirror her smile and captured Komaru's pinky with her own.

 _-but I want you to promise me, the first priority is to come back. If things look dangerous, come back immediately_

 _'Yes…I've done this before.'_

 _After all this time, I've been quite reckless in keeping that promise._

….

2300

The classroom had turned dark enough that she had difficulty looking around but Kyoko didn't take to turn the lights on.

"Asahina-san, if you sleep in such a place, you'll catch a cold. Let's go back to your room." She nudged the tan woman sprawled on the floor but all she got were happy murmuurs. She tried again but this time she got a small sigh. The woman must have been having a particularly happy dream.

It looked like she had no choice.

Perhaps it was already expected that they'd all be somehow sleeping on the classroom's cold hard floor which was why Kyoko was able to find a nearby bag full of blankets.

She looked at down on the four occupants.

"Munya…Sakura…Uu"

"Byakuya-sama…..I love you…."

"Guga…Guga…"

"Uh…debt collectors…not my kidney…"

She placed a blanket first over Asahina then rolled her over so she could stay on top of it.

For Fukawa and Komaru…Komaru looked to be kicking the writer's head even if Fukawa didn't seem to mind. The common thing between the two being how deep into sleep they looked

She placed blankets over the both of them even if it was a bit awkward.

 _'I wonder, if Naegi-kun has the same problem…'_ No, she entered his room many times before in the Killing School Life and he seemed to be all but normal. If anything, it was odd he kept his parka on.

Finally, she placed one over Hagakure. He looked in the middle of a bad dream. Unsure what to do. she placed an extra blanket over him.

"Let's drink all night long!" looked to be the plan but it soon turned out to be impossible. Even if they all could drink alcohol that didn't mean they could take it. It wasn't even like they had much opportunity to do so due to their busy lifestyles.

It was unexpected that everyone fell asleep around the same time. Even Komaru who hadn't drank anything but coke conked out quite easily.

Now that she was by herself, Kyoko opted to sit on a chair and read the manuscript Fukawa had written to her.

If she was completely honest, she was already feeling drowsy, but she knew she could fall asleep now. She reached into the top of her blouse to pull out a pendant which had been hidden beneath her clothes.

A beautiful thin purple stone at its center shone even in the dark.

It wasn't something that had cost too much but, for her, it was an important treasure. She stroked the stone with a finger as she continued her reading.

It's much quieter than a little while ago.

…

"Ahahahaha"

"Asahina-san, you shouldn't drink too much."

Asahina had been laughing non-stop, her face flushed red.

"Gegegegegege!"

"Ahh, Touko-chan, don't shake me. I need to go to the bathroom."

"Ufufufufufu"

"Let go Touko-chan…I really need to leave!"

Fukawa seemed to have combined with Genocider's personality when drunk. She'll turn back to normal when she wakes up. Probably.

In the meantime, Komaru was able to finally get to the toilet with Kyoko's help although she immediately feel asleep when she got back.

As for Hagakure,

"Kirigiri-cchi, if you give me the watch Togami gave you, I'm sure I can relay the interests on my debts. Help me out here!"

"No."

"Then the bow tie. Or the glasses. With those I can make some cash too."

"No.

...Became more annoying than usual.

….

But as loud and as noisy as that time was, right now only silence dominated the empty classroom. In the past, she may have preferred the silence as her only company, but now she couldn't help feel a bit lonely.

Whether it was a good change or a bad change, she couldn't say.

But she was sure if had told him about it, he'd be pleased.

As she read through the manuscript, she remembered the words everyone had told her earlier.

\- - - - !

\- - - - ! ! !

She was happy. Kirigiri Kyoko was truly happy that she could now say with confidence that she had friends that truly cared for her.

However, they seemed to have misunderstood one thing.

If one listened carefully, they could hear footsteps rushing from the end of the corridor to the half open classroom.

No, those were not the footsteps of the Shinigami. This was not such an ominous thing. It was simply the sounds heard by her own eardrums.

-!

-!

-!

She wasn't hurt. She wasn't in a bad mood. She wasn't being tolerant.

Because…

The door of the classroom opened completely.

There stood a heavily breathing man with a hair antenna that had not changed even changed since his high school days. That was the trademark feature of the man she had been waiting for.

He took a few deep breaths before speaking.

"Sorry for making you wait, Kirigiri-san"

"Good work. Naegi-kun. It's fine. You're on time until the date changes."

…because she knows he won't break his promises with her.

 **23:27**


	3. Side: Hope

**Disclaimer. I own neither the series not the characters. This is adapted from** **私の誕生日パーティーと三十分の** **birthday** **：後編**

 **Naegiri starts at the first line break at the second line break. I just love the idea that when Naegi's not doing DR thing's, he's part of this super sappy cheesy anime. None of that will affect the main plot.**

* * *

 **22:38**

The day was almost over, yet for the 14th Branch of the Future Foundation there still looked to be no end in sight.

"I really don't think we could finish this within the day!"

"Noisy. If you have time to complain. You have time to move!"

"Hurry Up! Hurry Up! Hurry Up!"

"I'm going as fast as I can!"

The shouts, yells, and cries, of several men and women echoed throughout the room. Naegi Makoto tried to drown out all the noise around him as he furiously typed away at his own computer. He needed to concentrate.

A member of the branch walked by and noticed that the man was still typing out even though he had been here since morning, working non-stop.

"Naegi-san, shouldn't you take a break?

The man didn't even turn his head to offer one of his trademark smiles, his eyes locked onto his monitor. "No, I'm fine. I'm almost done anyways.

"Is…that so?" The woman eyed the still large amount of work piled up on the desk. "It still looks like a lot to me."

"No, I'll finish it before the date changes. Absolutely." Naegi emphasized the last word as if doing so strengthened his will.

Giving the man a strange look, the branch member left him be. Naegi ignored it knowing that whatever the cost, he definitely had to be finished before "tomorrow.

He was finishing some paperwork needed to help finish his proposal in rebuilding and opening Hope's Peak Academy. This unfortunately meant a lot of organizing documents, checking them, and the worst part, transcribing written one's into a digital file. Thankfully, some of the members of the branch were here to help him out also partially because it was also part of their work as well.

"Why did we print this all on paper again? If we just kept the data files, then we wouldn't have had to struggle so hard!"

"Because, back then, despair could hack into anything if you were on some sort of grid, so it was too risky. Most hosting sites also shut down. You're lucky they didn't make it to when they brought out the typewriters…"

Asumi and Ogata bickered away even as their hands blurred as they smashed through their keyboards at ridiculous speeds as Ichigaya glanced at them nervously. Next to Naegi, Nagasaki, briskly explained their current situation.

"When Kirigiri-san resigned as Division Head to join the rebuilding of Hope's Peak Academy, there seemed to be a lot of handover work from when she was still head. Furthermore, we still need to arrange faculty candidates as well as student candidates. It's a bit hard for a single branch to take that all on."

Even as she said so, the older woman was doing twice the amount of work compared to Naegi and the other three. She was one of the people Naegi had relied on the most during his stay in the Branch as a member. He could easily see the bags in her eyes, but she soldiered on without a complaint.

And it wasn't just her. There were many other members in other rooms doing the same seemingly endless amount of work as they all did.

"I'm sorry everyone," Naegi voiced out loud. "You're all staying here just because of my proposal."

"Oy! Oy! It's too late for apologies, Naegi-san…or should I say Headmaster?"

"Nagasaki-san…"

"If you enroll a handsome student, please introduce me, .ter~"

"Asumi-san…"

"Oh! Then I'd like to be introduced to a cute girl, headmaster!"

"Ogata-san…"

"Ah, for me, I just want a school my little sister can learn from. I'm counting on you, Headmaster-senpai."

"Ichigaya-san!"

He spared a glance to take a good look at the friends he had made in the 14th branch. These were his first friends outside the Killing School Life, one's where he didn't even have to consider if they were a murderer or not.

"Everyone…Thank you. It's a bit embarrassing being called headmaster before the plan commences." He scratched his cheek before turning to Ogata and Asumi. "Although, do you guys really want to go out with a high schoolers?"

After the final Killing Game, Naegi had proposed to the reconstruction of Hope's Peak Academy, the once symbol of hope in the world. Whether it was because he was treated as the "hero" of two killing games or they just thought he was right, his proposal surprisingly pushed through.

He didn't expect however that he'd be nominated as the headmaster. Of course, it was obvious from the start he had no idea how to teach not did he have the qualifications to do so much more managing a school.

In a way, that was natural. They'd help him out, but he'd also be the one to take the blame if it fails. It didn't help that there were still negative perceptions on the school as it was where Ultimate Despair was able to start the sparks that became the Tragedy, something that had burned the world to the ground and it was still recovering.

What the Future Foundation needed him to do the most is to convince the public that Hope's Peak was acceptable. If they put him, the one known to beat Enoshima Junko, as the headmaster, it might help with public approval.

Nagasaki gave Naegi a glance. "I still think it was quite bold of you to say could rebuild the school by yourself."

"Not at all, Nagasaki-san." Naegi shook his head. "I just thought it was something the world needed today."

Well, that was his on the book reason. The real reason was slightly embarrassing to tell the others, so he decided to keep quiet about it.

"We at the branch should do our best too." Nagasaki nodded, satisfied with his answer. "Even If we're not the teachers you need, we can help with the office work at least."

"Let's do our best for the future of the world." Naegi replied enthusiastically

At the corner of his eye, he noticed Ichigaya approaching. "Good job, senpai."

Naegi flashed her a smile that sent the girl into a blushing frenzy. "You did good too, Ichigaya-san."

"Y-yeah!" The girl gathered her courage. "Um, senpai, if you want to maybe after all this, I could get you a drink…or something."

Naegi blinked. "Oh well, then can you get me a coffee? I just need to clean up my desk work."

"Ah, that's not..." Before Ichigaya could say anything more, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Nagasaki simply shook her head in silence before leaving. "Then, I'll make you some of my special mix!"

The young woman practically skipped out of the room.

"Thanks, again!" Naegi called back his eyes already back on his monitor and his fingers on the keyboard.

 _"…will you stay with me on my next birthday?"_

Naegi knew that if couldn't even protect his promise that day to her then he did not qualify to be the Ultimate Hope or the Headmaster.

"Sorry for waiti-Ah!"

"Eh!"

"Eh!"

"Whoah""

Right when Ichigaya, holding a cup of hot coffee, got close to Naegi's desk, her feet got caught on a nearby cable and lost balance, and tipped forward.

Most people did not expect it but Naegi Makoto was decently fit. He had continued his trainings from his time with the person known as the Strongest Human in the World, Oogami Sakura. Kirgiri and Togami had forced him to undertake a self defense course. No one, not even Kirigiri or his sister, knew exactly what happened when Naegi Makoto went on a global adventure with Kamakura Izuru to find and capture the rest of the 77th class.

So, it was with trained instincts that Naegi immediately got up from his seat so Ichigaya could land on his chest then steadied her with one arm around her head as the other pushed the arm to steady the cup, preventing a drop from falling.

Or that was the plan at least, as Naegi got up, tripped on his feet then accidentally tackled the girl to the ground. When he opened his eyes he saw the blushing face of one of his former co-workers. Thankfully, the younger woman's incredible bust provided enough cushioning to prevent their lips from touching

He immediately scrambled up and offered her a hand which she took.

"Are you okay, Ichigaya-san?" he asked her in concern, but she just looked away her face still red. Shrugging it off, he turned around to see-

Ah!" He saw the sight of his personal computer which was doused in black coffee. The monitor was also black, showing no light.

He started to feel panic rising within him. No, that may have been vomit. No, that may have been another scream. No, that may have been desp-

"It's fine," Nagasaki retorted not even turning from her computer. "All our PC's are custom made as no one really make's factory bought. These things are Anti-Tragedy. Besides now that we have all our servers up and everything you do is up in the cloud by now."

Naegi blinked as he felt relief course through him.

"Um senpai…I'm really sorry and-"Naegi held up a hand, partly laughing from his relief.

"You should go to the infirmary, Ichigaya-san. I'm sorry if I was rough."

"…Not rough enough…"

"What?"

"N-nothing! I'll go then!' The girl left the room once more and Naegi winced at how she held up her chest. They must've been hurt when he squshed them down.

Still, at least nothing went wrong he thought as he sat back down.

It looked like he caught a lucky-

"Oy! Oy! What is this?!" Ogata suddenly yelled, even taking the time to stand up to do so. His eyes were wide in disbelief as he started at his monitor.

"What is it?" asked Nagasaki

"It's….It's….Fuck." He looked like he would tear his hear off if he had any as he sat back down in defeat "Everything's wrong. HQ just sent us the new format needed for the documents. They said we need to change everything we had done before in the last six hours to this format."

This got everyone's attention as they all stared at him in disbelief, almost not wanting to believe him.

" _What_!?" It was the first time Naegi had heard Nagasaki shriek and he hoped it would be the last. "That's ridiculous! Send me the file."

It only took her a minute to glance through the new formatting guide but Naegi did not like how each second made her shoulders slump even further. "Fuck…They're right. How the fuck did no one else notice we were still using the old logo?!"

Naegi had nothing to add to that as he glanced at the time, 22:58. If he left now, he had thirty minutes to get to the school then would have the rest to celebrate with everyone. With Kirgiri-san.

"Asumi, how many files do we need changed?

The woman checked her directory her eyes scrolling, and scrolling, and scrolling and stopped. She bit the front of thumb. "Way too many. We were working way too hard."

"Give me an estimate." Nagasaki glanced through the new formatting file. "It should take maybe fifteen minutes per file for a person in this room."

"If we're going to include Ichi, then." The short girl gulped. "Four hours. Optimum."

' _What.'_

"Fuck." Nagasaki slumped down on her chair before sighing. "I'm guessing everyone else got the message."

Hearing the groans and frustrated yells outside their own room, it was obvious.

"Well, it can't be helped" muttered a defeated Nagasaki as she brushed a hand through her hair. "It looks like it's going to be an all-nighter."

'…'

"…That's right" replied a glum Ogata, much different from the energy he had moments before. "If we could finish in the morning, then it's not a big deal."

'… _!'_

"We'd better get some overtime, growled an irate Asumi her flirty tone gone with her patience.

'… _!'_

There was only one word going through Naegi's head at the moment…"Luck". Even till now his talent seemed to stalk him. Why else would this happen? There's no way he or anyone in the room could've prevented it. There was no freak accident or butterfly effect. It just so happened these things happen. That was Luck.

…but to think that it would today of all days that it manifested. It couldn't have waited even another two hours."

"E-everyone, Thank you!" With a shaky voice, Naegi tried to will out as much hope he could muster. He knew it wasn't a lot. "Let's all do our best! No, ten times our best!"

No one looked like they came out fully charged but he was willing to accept tired smiles.

"Don't push yourself too, alright, Naegi-san?" He could feel Nagasaki's spirit at her words.

"But you sure you don't got a date, Naegi-san?" Ogata gave a half-hearted grin. "Didn't you keep muttering about tomorrow or something?"

"C'mon, you can tell us, we don't bite much." It was a far cry from earlier but there was Asumi's teasing.

"Well…"

Naegi wanted to say that it was Kirigiri's birthday, but he knew how sensitive the woman was on her personal information. Only the survivors, his sister, and Togami's closes subordinates knew about it and he didn't' want it going around without her permission.

That was why no one knew about Kirigiri-san's birthday party.

He weighed whether he should tell them or not but in the end.

"No, it's fine. Let's continue!" Besides, when everyone else would be working hard, it was impossible to tell them he'd go to a birthday party especially when they were also doing their best for the reconstruction of the school.

'… _I'm sorry Kirgiri-san.'_ Naegi wondered if he should text her or call her up.

Suddenly, the door burst open to reveal a blonde in an expensive suit. He also looked like he wasn't sure if he felt angry or disappointed.

"…Why are still in such a place, Naegi?"

"Togami-kun?" Behind the scion were also a couple of his trusted men. "Why are you here?"

Togami narrowed his eyes as he took a moment to glare at the other members of the room. Of course, each one cowered, knowing not to get in his way from personal experience.

"You're all too slow at working! Because of that I'm will lend you my assistance. You can keep your thank yous to yourselves."

"Eh, that Togami-san is helping us…"

"Are you serious we're saved!"

"Tch, I don't like him but we need his help…"

All around everyone released sighs of relief. Even if Byakuya Togami was an HR nightmare he was still very effective in getting results.

Naegi smiled up at his friend. "Thanks, Togami-kun. Did someone call you or something?"

"….is there still room in your brain to care about something like that?"

"What?"

"…do not keep that woman waiting. I can't stand her if she doesn't rise to my provocations."

"…!" Naegi took a step at his words, easily connecting the dots on who Togami was talking about.

"I do not know if that woman is sad or just going crazy but you should hurry and turn her back to normal."

Even if it sounded like she was being insulted, it did seem like even Togami was worried about Kirgizia's behavior.

"Is there something wrong with Kirigiri-san?" Nagasaki asked forcing herself to speak. She somewhat understood that there was something going on between Naegi and the former division head. She just didn't really know what it was.

"Togami turned to her as if she was a fly on the wall. "It's no big deal. Today is her birthday and those people throw her a party. And, of course, this idiot of a fool did not go."

"To-Togami-kun!" Stuttered Naegi. "You can't just tell people that without her permission."

Togami didn't even bother to roll his eyes at the pathetic attempt.

"Well, send my regards." Waved Ogata

"Mine too!". Added Asumi

"Really the Kirigiri-san is too secretive." Nagasaki sighed but there was a smile on her face. "If she had just told us about it, then of course we would all want to go."

It was only after a second of everyone smiling till their heads all simultaneously turned to Naegi with shock in their faces.

"""Why is Naegi-san here?!"""

It was a perfect three-person in sync Tsukkomi.

Naegi raised his hands in defense. "I actually thought about leaving immediately after I finished the job."

"It's still her frikkin birthday, man!" Yelled Ogata. "Why are you missing your girlfriend's birthday for work?!" Asumi nodded next to him, her arms crossed."

"No, we're not like that." Naegi knew he liked Kirigiri at that point, but he had yet to confess to her much less be dating. "Besides, everybody's workload has increased due to my own selfish plan of restoring the school. To go home now wouldn't feel right."

"YOU IDIOT!" Suddenly he felt a hard smack on the back of his head. Even Togami, who was silently waiting for their rabble to end raised an eyebrow.

Naegi rubbed the back of head that he knew some form of bruise would come up and turned to his attacker. "Na-Nagasaki-san?"

"Do you really think we're so weak?! Do you really think we all wouldn't be here right now if we didn't want to help rebuild Hope's Peak? We're all here because we want to!"

"Yeah! If us to cooperated about this in advance, you should've said so earlier!

"Are we really that unreliable to you?"

He turned from Ogata to Asumi then back to Nagasaki.

"Did you not tell me she was important to you, Naegi-san? Did we not go on a date to get her a present? Did you break the sacred vow between cashier and customer by lying? If you care about her, then go!"

"E-everyone…!" He turned a teary gaze to each of them. That's right, even if he couldn't do anything about his own bad luck, he could always rely on someone else to help him

"To think I'd meet such friends, I guess I am "lucky after all' murmured Naegi as he wiped the tears in his eyes.

He turned to Togami who was looking at him as if he were a strange bug. No, a stranger bug.

"Everyone..Togami-kun…thank you!" Even if he had said the word countless times today, it was this time where he felt he meant it the most.

"Just go already, you idiot." Ogata looked away shyly. "You'd better kiss her!"

"Tell me about your progress tomorrow! And there better be some," winked Asumi. "Remember, forehead, nose, lips. 1-2-3!"

"Naegi-san, I'm sorry hitting you but" suddenly he was in a tight embrace as the older woman rubbed the back of his head before grabbing both of his shoulders and looking straight at him. "You'd better confess your feelings to Kirigiri-san, you hear me! Prove yourself as a man tonight! And if she rejects you, you can come crying to me, I'll just take you for myself. So don't be scared! Make sure you do it!"

"Na-Naga.." Before he could say anything else he was promptly shoved in front of Togami who was still giving him that weird stare before motioning he head to the two men behind him..

"Take this idiot to the rebuilt Hope's Peak."

"Yes, Byakuya-sama!"

Naegi followed after the two but not before giving his thanks to his savior.

"Thank you for everything, Togami-kun."

"Hmph, it's because I can't leave things to you that I had to come out. There is no need for thanks. Go quickly."

It would be the last time Makoto Naegi didn't mind going over the speed limit.

* * *

23:24

"Thank you again. Make sure to pay attention when you get back home!'

"Hai! Good luck, Naegi-san!"

The moment the car skidded across the front of the school, Naegi bolted off.

He ran.

He ran as fast as he never had before taking Togami's advice to the limit.

And eventually, he reached the classroom where they were supposed to have a party.

' _Ah'_

It was obvious by the hallway but now that he stood by the door, it was obvious that the lights were clearly off. The only illumination was the moonlight entering thorough the window.

 _'After all, I did not make it in time'_ His head dropped down as he couldn't hep but grab the door infrustration. He wanted to slam it but he just wasn't the type of person. He closed the door in front of him only welcome darkness once more.

It was only because of the dark did he nothing something different. Rather than light, there was an unevenness texture of the darkness that he noticed one of the doors was half open.

Slowly, he placed a hand on the door and slid it open.

Illuminated by the faint moonlight, seated reading in a chair was the person he was looking for.

Words came out of his mouth before he could say anything else.

"Sorry for making you wait, Kirigiri-san"

"Good work. Naegi-kun. It's fine. You're on time until the date changes."

Kirigiri Kyoko smiled.

 **Line**

"Everyone's sleeping. If we talk here we might wake them up." whispered Kirigiri. "Shall we move to the table?"

Naegi took a moment to glance at the bundles of blankets on the floor. Just as she had said, he could see their friends and his sister sleeping on the floor, out like a light.

"Did they get too tired from the party?""

"It was possibly the alcohol."

"Alocohol?" Naegi took a sniff and he could smell a faint scent of it in the air or from the room next to theirs. Well, if he was going to be a headmaster, he should better get used to sniffing for it.

"Asahina-san brought a few bottles." She flashed him a small mischievous smile. "I may have drank a little myself."

Together, they both leave the classroom and start walking across the corridor together side by side. The silence isn't too uncomfortable. Beside her, Naegi could spot how Kirigiri cheeks are rosier than usual. Was she still a bit tipsy?

Kirigiri didn't know but Naegi could hold his alcohol well. Back when he was still a branch member, he used to be invited to drinking sessions by the other branch members at least once a week.

"Are you okay?" He moved closer to support her, but she declined with a raised hand.

"As a detective, I cannot afford to lower my thinking abilities. I didn't drink that much alcohol."

"I see" Naegi remembered how she had told him she had lived abroad since she was young. Maybe, she had lived somewhere where underage drinking was allowed and grown a tolerance. The image of a young drunk Kyoko tickled his mind.

"…what are you thinking?"

"Nothing. Nothing."

They continued their wordless walk until they reached the inner courtyard of Hope's Peak. The school fountain, or, it would be a fountain if it still worked. Unfortunately, the renovations haven't reached this part which left the thing as a large block of steel and concrete. They both took a seat at a lone bench and Naegi had to wonder if the him he'd never have back saw a less depressing sight.

He turned to see the portrait of Kirigiri Kyoko next to him, the pendant he had given her glimmering in the moonlight. He took that back. He didn't really think there could by anything else that could compare.

"You're still wearing that pendant." His eyes turned to the gem at its center as gloved hands cradled it.

"Of course. You did give it to me after all." Kirigiri turned her head away, slightly embarrassed with how she acted back then. She didn't really know what came over her, but she couldn't say she wasn't thankful. She instead chose to change the topic. "So, how were you able to finish all of the work?"

"Oh." Naegi felt his shoulders slump and tense at the same time. The seesaw of emotions work had left him in had exhausted him but he knew he couldn't show that to her. "Well, we were actually finished in time but headquarters screwed us over."

"As usual?"

"I don't know how you dealt with them for so long." Naegi admitted. "In the end, Togami-kun arrived and set my mind straight."

"I see, so it was Togami after all." He noticed the way her eyes lit up, like puzzle pieces falling into place. There was a bigger story here and he wanted to ask what she had told the scion, but he waited for Kirigiri to speak again instead. "I must thank him then. He's did send me a present."

"A present, huh?" He wanted to ask, just to know what the man got her that his own wouldn't compare to but that would be unfair to the person who had helped him the most today. "Togami-kun, has certainly come far. Speaking of…"

Naegi reached into the inner pocket of his coat, to take out an long white rectangle box. He thankfully did not keep it in his coat during work like last year's gift but instead had kept it in his locker which he immediately grabbed before leaving. "Sorry for giving it at such a time, but here's my gift."

Lavender eyes widen slightly as her hands gently take the box from him, treating it with care. Naegi wonders if she already knew. Such care was unusual.

"Thank you…. May I?"

"Of course."

Carefully, gloved fingers peeled off the white wrapping and opened the box within.

"Ah.." A red one-wheel rose bloomed inside its glass cage. An In-Vitro Rose. Back in the Killing School Life, he had given her as many presents that he thought she would like. While this wasn't the thing she was most pleased with, this was the one that brought out the most emotion.

Before, he had given it to her without considering the meaning behind the act. This time, he did it with the fullest of intents and purposes.

Kirigiri admired the gift in her hand, moonlight reflecting of the tubing. She then cradled it in her arms and hugged it tight.'

"Thank you, Naegi-kun…. I'm very happy." And finally, he knew it was all worth it. No matter the journey, it was worth the joy in her lips as they curled up. He was glad.

"I'll be honest that I did not expect such a gift from you." She smiled down at the tube in her arms as her pendant liked against the glass. "Any particular reasons?"

The reason was where they were sitting. Just being in the campus again brought back memories both pleasing and cruel. When they had all decided to leave, they only brought with them their very necessities.

"I remembered the first time I gave you one." Naegi looked down, smiling at the memory. "You looked so lost when you saw it. Like a treasure you never knew you had lost. In hindsight, it makes sense with your condition. When we came back here, I felt bad you had to leave it when we left. I tried to look for it but…"

When he looked up again, Kirigiri evaded his gaze as she looked to the side.

"I'm sorry to upset you, Naegi-kun but it seems you've misunderstood. That in vitro rose you had given me from that time. I still have it."

"Really?"

"Yes," Kyoko used a free hand to comb back her hair, taking the moment to calm herself. "The flower has long since withered which I've removed. But, I've kept the tube."

"But at the time," Naegi remembered what she had told the other survivors. "You said to only take important things.

"Yes, and one of my important things was the gift you gave me."

"I see…" Naegi broke eye contact to turns his head forward. He had always known there was a bigger story to the in vitro rose with how she had looked at it back then. Even till now he still didn't know anything about her. He turned back. "Do you remember why in vitro roses are so important to you?"

She stared into his eyes for a moment, looking for something Naegi wasn't sure of before sighing in what sounded like disappointment. "I'm not sure if you're just playing coy or truly ignorant but, yes, there are special memories in this flower."

She held it up in front of her, as if the past would be reflected on the glass tubing. Naegi sits quietly next to her, letting her speak of a past he rarely got a glimpse to.

"When I was still beginning my work as a detective, I received one of these from my previous partner.

"…huh." A familiar feeling crept up into Naegi's stomach. One that he was all too used to. He had never even considered that the girl would have a previous partner. Or maybe it had been to presumptions of him to think she didn't have relationships before Hope's Peak. Whoever this person was Naegi knew they were a special existence for the woman next to him.

He tried to hide the discomfort he felt as he knew she was somehow watching him from the tubing's reflection. He didn't want her to see him brandish such ugly feelings.

'… _I don't like it'_ The idea of a younger Kirigiri Kyoko, receiving the same present Naegi had given her, smiling up to that person, just imagining it hurt like a stab to his gut.

"My partner was someone different from who I was. Too honest, too gentle, a strong sense of justice. In a sense, you resemble that person."

"..I see."

Naegi tried to keep his tone as casual as possible, afraid the feelings that were swirling in him would show. Also, it looked like the only reason Kirigiri was interested in someone like him was their resemblance.

He said the next words with startling ease.

"That person was surely special for Kirigiri-san"

"Yes, I learned a lot of important things."

Naegi didn't respond as he stared above into the dark night sky. The darkness felt it like could swallow him whole. Even if the pollution in the atmosphere was mostly gone, it was only on dark nights like this where one could see the faint glow of stars.

' _A person so important to Kirigiri-san_ ' A person he knew or heard nothing about. A family member. A friend. A colleague. _A lover._ In the end, it was possible he actually knew nothing about the woman next to him. That all his knowledge of her was just a drop in the ocean When he thought he was getting closer and closer, it felt like he was never moving anywhere to begin with.

But then again…wasn't that the same with everyone else? His family, his friends, even himself? Did the Makoto Naegi of Hope's Peak have that same kind of important person? Was he friends with Kirigiri-san as well or did he ignore her? Or was he, normal him, ignored by everyone?

A star twinkled up in the night sky and he couldn't help but remember his own star. The one he'd be forever separated from.

He didn't know anything about Maizono Sayaka. It was possible everything about her was an act. It was possible she had a lover she wanted to be with. It was possible she didn't care about him at all.

Yet, did any of that matter to how brightly she still shone in his heart?

"I'm jealous." Naegi didn't even notice the words coming out of his mouth that didn't hide any of the pain and hurt he had been feeling. He continued looking up, his eyes refusing to look away from that one star in the sky.

"I'm jealous that someone got to know the younger Kirigiri-san."

"I'm jealous that Kirigiri-san had a partner I never knew."

"I'm jealous that I wasn't the first to give Kirigiri-san an in vitro rose."

"I'm jealous that Kirigiri-san only saw that person instead of me."

"I'm jealous that Kirigiri-san has such an important person."

His ugly words hung out in the open. However, as miserable and dirty as they were, he had to _consent_ and accept each one because, as ugly as they were, they were the truth. Even if they were things he didn't want to face, he had to if he wanted to get past his insecurities. Drawing in another breath of determination, Naegi finally took his eyes of Maizono's star to capture the whole night sky and dared to accept it all with another set of truth.

"Even so, I'm happy that there was someone the younger you could rely on.

"Even so, I'm happy that you could still trust others in the past."

"Even so, I'm happy that I was able to see your expression when I first gave her an invitro rose."

"Even so, I'm happy that the resemblance allowed you to approach someone normal like me.

"Even so," Naegi said the last words with absolute conviction, his chest finally free of any lingering doubts. "I'm happy that I got to learn more about you. About Kirigiri Kyoko, one of _my_ important people."

His last words echoed throughout the cold night with still no response from the woman next to him. In fact, she hadn't said anything since he began talking. Naegi didn't know what she was feeling as he hadn't turned, no, didn't want to turn to her.

So, he was surprised when he felt her move closer to him and pressed her head on his shoulder. He almost jumped at the sudden contact as he felt her body heat on his shoulder. Her long hair smelt of alcohol and lavender.

He tried to turn to see her expression "Are you-"

"Don't."

The tone of her voice made him stop. He wasn't sure what it was, but it made head immediately turn away. "Naegi-kun, I don't want to show you such an ugly face right now."

"Kirigiri-san, I-"

"Please."

" _Please…give me time to myself."_

Naegi complied as he silently turned back to the night sky. The star he had associated with Maizono had disappeared or maybe he was just too distracted by the woman next to him to find it. He tried to count the stars, count the trees, count the fountain, but the heat next to him made his brain go mush.

"You're unfair, you know?" spoke a voice from his shoulder. Naegi assumed he still wasn't allowed to look.

"Hm?"

"How you're able to just keep going forward no matter how you feel."

"…it's my only good trait after all."

"…"

"…"

"…she was my older sister."

"… your sister." Naegi wanted to say he was relieved, that the imaginary man he had been thinking of didn't exist all along. But, for someone like her to have family, yet he hadn't seen or heard of her. There was only one real answer to that riddle. "I don't think I could handle two Kirigiri-san's."

"Well it wasn't by blood." And there was a nostalgic tint in her voice as she said the next words. "She insisted that I addressed her like that."

The envy was still there, that there was such a person she could talk about in such a tone. Yet, he also believed what he told her next.

"…I'd like to meet her."

"…" There was a small hesitation on her part, as if she wanted to say more, but Naegi didn't pursue it. "…same."

Her head slightly shuffled on his shoulder, soft hair tickling everything it touched. Her next words were just as soft, "Naegi-kun, I'd like to apologize for earlier. I may have let my past frustrations with you get to me and wanted to return it. It has also been a rather long day."

Naegi wasn't entirely sure what she meant by that. There was no such person in his life she could be jealous of. No, the idea that she felt would feel jealous seemed didn't seem likely at all. But, if he had someway hurt her in the past, "Then it's my fault to begin with…"

"Maybe so," she sighed. "but I didn't need to have gone that far with my teasing. I'm sure Naegi-kun thought it was something like a past lover, right?"

Naegi wanted to disagree. He wanted to say that it was more than his petty jealousy as a man. He had to explain it was just him also how he had been so wrong about what he presumed of her. But, in the end, at its core, if he was being truthful…

"..yeah." He tilted his head away from hers, hoping she couldn't see the shame on his face. "The thought did cross my mind. It…made me a bit nervous."

"…idiot." She whispers in a volume that she knew he'd hear. "I've always lived as a detective before I met you and even after. Of course, I've been involved with many different people. Helping, cooperating, opposing, and many different exchanges. Of course, that will also happen in the future but, for now…"

An arm snaked its way around his own as she pressed herself even closer to him, almost whispering the next words right next to his ear,

"As a woman, you're the only man I've cared about, Naegi-kun."

….!

'… _.!'_

"….!", was all he attempts to say as his heart threatened to jump out of his body. He wasn't even sure if he was still alive, her arm around his own being the only thing anchoring his mind and body on earth. He was sure his face looked awful right now from how hot it was, and he was somewhat thankful they weren't face to face. He wanted to cover it up with his free hand but that was too busy preventing him from falling over the bench.

That was…. maybe….80% chance... could it have been… _that_ …?

"Ah…yeah…that's good." was the only miserable reply his brain could offer. He was truly pathetic, that the truth bullet that he had held in his heart the longest did not come at all when he needed it the most. It was as if her bold words had jammed the canister from firing. In the back of his mind, Naegi wondered if this was what it felt like for the people he shot his words at.

"…I thought you'd understand that much, even if I didn't go so far as to say it."

"Sorry." he could only apologize for being so dissatisfactory as a man.

"How about Naegi-kun? Before you met me, were there no other people

"None. I've always just lived an ordinary life, one good and bad. For a normal person like me, a confession never happened. Back then, I didn't have any people I'd call special, that would be impossible." He admitted. It would suffice to say his life really began at Hope's Peak even if he never remembered those two years.

"And now?" He didn't think it was possible to for her to have moved closer but even if it was a single millimeter he still felt it.

"…now…I'm lucky to have so many I could call special." Naegi licked his lips. If he was being honest, he couldn't return her words. He had just met too many amazing wonderful people to not have thought about it. "But if I were to say, as a man, um, Kirigiri-san is, uh, a different kind of special from the others.

He knew a small smile grew on her face from the way he felt her cheeks raised, "Different?"

"If, I were to say it," As the revolver in his brain still refused to work, Naegi forced out the first thing that came to mind. "compared to everyone else, you'd be my Ultimate Important Person."

Ultimate Important Person.

Ultimate Important Person…

Ultimate Important Person….

In his mind, a truth bullet with her face and the words "Ultimate Important Person" appeared and Naegi knew he wanted to just crawl up and die. The only thing that saved his dignity was that she didn't laugh at the lamest thing someone could possibly say. He was sure he had just committed what could only be equal to the Tragedy of confessions.

"…well, if you say so…then I'll believe you." As she said it, she let go of his arm and took her head off his shoulder. When she faced him once more, it was the her face held her usual calm expression. "Anyways, thank you for the present, Naegi-kun. I'm very grateful.

Naegi smiled back before his face shifted, his expression awkward as he scratched his cheek. "Yeah, about that."

"Is something matter?" Kirigiri asked, not sure what was the problem. In response, he just inserted his hand into his chest pocket once again to pull out another wrapped box much to her surprise.

"The in vitro rose was just to replace the one I thought you had lost because I didn't think Kirigiri-san would keep it." Originally, he the in vitro rose wasn't supposed to be her birthday gift and he was supposed to give the second one after but she was more pleased on the flowers than he expected so it was hard to follow up.

"I didn't expect that you'd prepare two gifts." Kirgiri admitted as she accepted the wrapped box from him. "May I open it?"

"Just don't expect much, alright?"

She did the same careful unwrapping he saw earlier, as she opened his true birthday present for her.

"This is…a ribbon?" She lifted the gift from her box, a simple white ribbon. It was around the same length as the usual ones she used and even of the same make and fabric.

"Well, last year it was a pendant and I thought it would be strange if I kept getting you accessories," explained Naegi, feeling shy for giving such a simple gift. "I picked something to replace what you could usually wear."

Also, he thought, it'd be nice if it was something she could wear out in the open compared to the pendant she mostly kept hidden.

He allowed himself to peek at her reation. She stared at the ribbon with dyed cheeks, looking delighted.

' _That's good.'_ He'd admit that, as her birthday grew closer, he started to worry if it was okay to just give her a simple ribbon which was why he gave the in vitro rose as well.

"Thank you, Naegi-kun," She turned her focus back to him, pleased. "I do have to wonder if white suits me…"

"If it's Kirigiri-san it should be fine" Naegi immediately replied. Really any color would suit her. "I guarantee it!"

"Well, then let's put it on immediately."

"Huh…?"

As she said so, she carefully held her braid of hair, so it wouldn't come undone as she unraveled the black ribbon Naegi had always seen her wearing. She then handed the white ribbon to him. "If you could, Naegi-kun"

"S-sure. Is it okay to…"

"I can touch me anywhere you want," the woman said almost provokingly before releasing a mischievous giggle. Naegi knew he was being teased again.

"I get it. I'll tie it up then. Can you come closer?" Though looking slightly dissatisfied that he didn't rise to her teasing, she scooted closer to him. Carefully, he tied the ribbon in the butterfly know he knew she preferred at the top of the bundle of hair, making sure he didn't ruin her braid. The soft glances of his fingers against her hair didn't help as he held back the feeling of wanting to run through it.

" There…." Naegi leaned back to admire his work.

"Thank you." Kirgiri rubbed the braid between two fingers, unsure. "Well?"

"Yeah, it matches you. You look much better than I imagined." Naegi replied honestly, staring straight at her. Kirigiri averted her eyes away from his.

"…After all, the real voice is better than a fake one."

"Fake?"

"It's nothing." She dismissed the topic, her hand reaching up to touch the ribbon in her hair. She stroked the lace, a shy smile settling on her lips.

Seeing her right now, so happy with what he gave her, made Naegi's chest grow hot as the feelings he had been holding onto felt like they finally wanted to come forth.

- _"Everyone believes in you.'_

 _-"No matter what happens, never give up hope. I'll always be on your side._

"Naegi-kun? What happened?" The surprise in her voice snaps him back. He wondered what she meant before he felt it himself.

"…what?" He held up a hand to his face and felt tears roll down his cheeks. He blinked as his vision got blurrier. "Huh? Why is this?"

"Did something happen, Naegi-kun?" The gentle look in Kirigiri eyes were replaced by a more serious one.

"No, I must have just yawned too hard" Naegi wiped hem away with an arm, not minding how they went his long sleeve. "It's nothing."

"…will you not tell me?" When she asked again, it's with a sad and lonely expression on her face.

'… _that's unfair, Kirgiri-san.'_

Naegi wiped his face one more time before admitting why he thought it happened. "I'm just glad…I'm just glad that I was able to meet you safe today"

It was an unexpected answer Kirgiri didn't expect, her voice rising in shock. "What?"

Naegi continued, his voice low and steady. "…Back in the last Killing Game, when I thought you had died…I thought that it wouldn't be possible for us to spend time together like this anymore. That I couldn't keep my promise…Right now, I'm just happy that we can safely celebrate the day you were born."

"Ah…" Kirigiri looked away in realization. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't' give you any false hope just in case it didn't work. Even knowing how effective Kimura-san's medicines are, it was still a bet I was unsure of."

"Please don't do anything so dangerous again, Kirgiri-san." Naegi hoped he wasn't sounding too harsh. "If you get into a similar situation again, please tell me everything."

A small sigh escaped her lips as she stared back into Naegi's eyes. "Fine, I will do so from now on but that's because I know when I'm dead your actions become unnecessarily excessive."

"Eh?"

"…I heard from Asahina-san. Right after I died, you went to face odd with Munakata-san by yourself and then volunteered to verify the suicide video. You sounded desperate really."

Naegi flinched, caught off-guard. He murmured, "Asahina-san said too much…"

Kirgiri intensified her stare. "If I'm going to make a promise, then you should as well. If there's a dangerous situation, please think about putting your safety as top priority."

"…yeah, I understand" Naegi nodded. "then I promise, let's both promise that we won't give up on finding a way without sacrifices."

"Yes," Kirigiri finally smiled once more. "That's more like you."

Both relaxed and allowed silence to return. Kirigiri went back to admiring the in vitro rose she had placed down earlier while Naegi just enjoyed the calming feeling being next to woman always gave him. It was mysterious really.

"Today, I received a lot of things. Did you know the 77th students sent me a gift through Togami?"

"Really?" Naegi blinked in surprise. He wasn't sure if it was that the once remnants of despair had sent her gifts or that Togami Byakuya had been okay delivering them. Considering how they were still wanted criminals, it was a rather large gamble. Although he was sure Togami would scold him for thinking that anything involving the heir could possibly go wrong." That was of them."

"Indeed. They even sent some interesting things. Like those inventions in the manga you lent me."

"Really," Naegi's eyes lit up and Kirigiri couldn't help smile at how such a _boy_ he still was. "Then let's go back and check it out now."

Naegi moved to get up but was stopped when he felt resistance. He looked to see it was Kirigiri gripping his clothes. Her cheeks were flushed pink as one hand gripped his sleeve. He idly wondered if she was still drunk." "…can't we stay here a little longer?"

"..!" He felt his heart threaten to jump out of his chest at the sight. He immediately sat back down. "Y-yeah. I got it. Let's stay here a little longer."

To calm himself, he tried to think of something to talk about. Anything so he wouldn't have to think about how fast his heart was beating. His mind went to an earlier conversation.

"Kirigiri-san, can I tell you the reason why I want to rebuild Hope's Peak?"

The woman turned to him, surprised at the sudden topic.

"After the whole incident with the Future Foundation, when I was still convinces that you had died, I was thinking what could I do? What could I do for you and the rest of the people of the world who had died before?"

"…"

"My answer, the answer I thought of was that I wanted to rebuild the school I first met you. I didn't want the place where I became with friends with Kirigiri-san and everyone else to remain in ruin. After all, even if it wasn't perfect, it's still an important place of memories for me. I wanted to regain the symbol of hope that your father aimed the school to be for the world."

When he finished talking, Kirigiri replied with a warm smile.

"I see," she closed her eyes and nodded, everything making sense. "When you accepted the role of headmaster without any resistance, I thought you just accepted responsibilities like usual. But instead, it seems you intent to succeed that person's will."

"Yeah…Is it bad?"

"No. Whatever you've decided, I'll help you out." A smirk raises on her lips. "But instead of just rebuilding his school, let's aim to make it even better."

"Haha…That's right!" Naegi felt a grin forming on his face. He didn't even realize he had feared her reaction until he felt the relief pass through him. "Thank you. I feel like I can do it when you say so."

"If you only need my words, I'll tell you whatever you need at any time." She says so still smiling and Naegi wondered if she's more expressive tonight because of the alcohol. Her cheeks glow red. "I think…I'm feeling a little cold, Naegi-kun."

Wordlessly, she shuffled closer to him on the bench until their arms and shoulders are rubbing together. "Can you warm me up?" As she says so, a hand falls into his own, each gloved finger filling in the gaps between his.

"That's bold, Kirigiri-san" murmured Naegi. Nonetheless, it took all his effort to flip his hand, so it could interlock with hers. He tries to ignore how sticky with sweat it is.

"…I might be a little drunk, today,"

"…I thought detectives didn't get drunk."

"When I'm with you, Naegi-kun, I'm feel like I'm not only a detective." she glanced at him, and even if it was just for a moment before she turned away, she stared into his eyes. "I'm also a woman."

Her words struck his heart and he awkwardly fiddled the hand in his. The last time they had done this…the texture was different from the rubber she wore and was so much warmer, yet he wasn't able to grab it. He couldn't return with his own grip and, after that, if it wasn't for a miracle, there would never have been any other chances. She had laid herself bare and taken the intiaitive.

Now was his turn

 _You'd better confess your feelings to Kirigiri-san, you hear me! Prove yourself as a man tonight!_

Naegi turned to face her and placed his free hand on right shoulder. Kirigiri looked straight at him in surprise.

"Kirigiri-san…"

"Ah.."

If his brain failed him, If his gun failed him, if his words and truth bullets failed him, then he'd just take action instead!

She is too close to say she was a friend yet they weren't lovers either. He had to make his point clear. He needed to cut through the fog and define where they both stood side by side.

If he were rejected at this point…there was no coming back. Naegi didn't think he'd ever recover but then, slowly, as if realizing his intentions, he saw her eyes close.

Naegi Makoto had never kissed before. This would be his first kiss, one he had been thinking about since he was a kid so he didn't want to screw it up.

So he remembered.

 _-That's much harder than overcoming it. But I have hope in that._

He leaned forward until their foreheads touched

 _\- I came here to save you._

.He tilted his head until their noses bumped…

 _-You refuse to back down and try to destroy the Ultimate Despair_

He closed his eyes…

 _-Ultimate Hope. I wonder if we can call you that…_

..and finally kissed her.

* * *

 **12:00**

Even though it was midnight and her birthday was over, Kyoko still felt like nothing really changed. She turned to the man next to her.

"Um, Kirigiri-san. about what Alter Ego said…" the man next to her shuffled awkwardly. It didn't take a detective to know what he going to do next. She wondered if she let him do it. It would be nice to finally have closure, to finally stop with the tip-toeing but there was still too much work to be done.

The world wasn't fixed just yet. Just the bathrooms of the academy weren't fixed yet. As much as it pained her to do so she'll put it on hold. The world still needed their hope but one day she was sure to take it back, she after all, the one who gave it to him.

For now, the taste of his mouth, the feeling of his hands on her chest, the flow of brown hair on burned skin, that was enough for her.

"Naegi-kun, the clock has passed midnight. My birthday's over." She watches him blink unsure of she meant, much like a puppy. She raises a single gloved finger to his lips. "Next year, can I expect something special from you?"

He nodded as his eyes go cross eyes due to keeping his sight on her finger. Kyoko can't help but break into a smile, a natural one that she didn't know she had lost. He flusters, and she feels her heart strings tangle up as well knowing she can do such a thing to him. She can't help but wonder, hope, that the Kirigiri Kyoko she never knew had been able to see such a face, have such a feeling.

She wondered, just to taste it...

"Let's head back, Makoto-kun."

She was already looking forward to next year. She had never looked forward to her birthday, never had a reason to but now, she had a party to look forward to, she had friends she could celebrate it with, and she had _him_ and whatever future they'd walk together.

And for Kirigiri Kyoko, that was the best gift of all.

* * *

 **Notes:**

 **Boy, this was a tough one.**

 **I changed up some parts. In the original story, they didn't kiss, there's no confession, and they just put it off which gave me the biggest blue balls possible. I thought to incorporate that if it was at least addressed it in the sequel but…it was a standard confession and it's super long (approx. 20K words) and that I don't' want to work on that at the moment. This will end here though I do suggest checking out the 4** **th** **part anyways if you can. It's a cute amusement park date. I briefly considered using the one there as my ending but thought, fuck it, I'm done and ended it on the kiss. Also there's no way this all happened in 30 min.**

 **Cause I got other shit to write yo. I made an Omake 2 for those who really wanted some Naegiri dripping with honey stuff. It's not my chosen ending for a reason but hey why not. Hagakure saves the day.**

 **Doing all these fics in the span of 4 days really made me think about Kyoko's character progression. In this fic, she's pretty much full Dere like it's obvious she's into him. She snuggles up to him, clearly gives him obvious hints yet she doesn't confess. I was first annoyed but the more I think about it the more it made sense. If she knew she liked him and Makoto is as open book about liking her, than one would think she'd think she'd confess and get it over with. But instead she's patient, waiting for him so get his courage and, in a way, you could say that's what she also did in the first trial, she let Naegi take in charge so he could confront the truth himself. That's of course going of the assumption that Naegi had a hard time confessing because "He was shy" which is no such thing. A shy person won't ever consider giving a vibrator to frikkin Oogami Sakura. That's probably my biggest complaint about this.**

 **Well, it was fun at least.**

* * *

 **Omake:**

"Kirigiri-san? Are you still awake at this time?

Naegi looked down on the virtual Avatar of Fujasaki Chihiro blinked into consciousness, a familiar teenage face popping in front of the monitor of Kirigiri's phone.

"Oh, Naegi-san?' Alter Ego's face turned to him most likely using the phone's front camera as eyes. "It's good that you finished work! I suggest getting some rest! Your clothes and hair are a mess and, if I may use the saying, had the life sucked right out of-"

"So what happened?" quickly interrupted Kirigiri, always to the point as she held up the smart phone in one hand and used the other to rebutton up her blouse.

"The analysis of the city you have asked for has been finished! Possible escape routes for Remnants of despair has also been identified, Also," the head looked around unsure. It was odd to see an A.I. hesitating but then again Alter Ego had shown a wider range of emotions before. "Even though, it's not urgent, I wanted to give it today."

Seeing how nervous the AI looked, Naegi had to ask, "Alter Ego, maybe you wanted to give Kirigiri-san a birthday present?"

"That's right, Naegi-san!" The head nodded. "Asahina-san told me earlier that it was her birthday. It's apparently a day where you appreciate when a person was born."

The clock on the phone read 23:55

Next to him, he heard Kirigiri giggle, a rare cute sound, "To think an AI would be just as late as Naegi-kun." She turned the smile to the phone. "Thank you, Alter Ego, but I wonder what you'll give me."

The avatar smiled widely. "It took me some time, but I finally managed to restore the data of the camera footage of the Future Foundation headquarters."

"I see. Thank you for the gift." Although Kirigiri did look thankful, Naegi noticed how her shoulders slightly tense up. "Can you play it now?"

' _If what Alter Ego had said was true then, it must have been related to the last Killing Game.'_

Naegi thought about what she'd want to see. He knew Kirigiri was the type who wanted to know how everything went down so it was possible she wanted to confirm how those killed by the monitor died. More than likely, it was possibly before the Killing Game began, how they were all dragged down below. Perhaps to confirm if Tengan had an accomplice?

Before he could think any futher, the video started playing.

The screen showed two men, one standing and one kneeling, down in a pit littered with large debris, both wearing suits but lacking their vests. Both looked worn out although one looked worse off than the other.

 _["Your ideals took the life of someone close to you."]_

",,,Naegi-kun?" muttered Kirigiri, immediately recognizing one of them had a very familiar hair antenna.

 _["No matter who it is, I'll sacrifice anyone to destroy despair. That is what hope is."]_

Kirigiri watched the screen with a serious expression .

 _["You've got that wrong! "You're only thinking about destroying despair.]_

Naegi blinked, not really remembering that he has said something so outrageous. If he were completely honest, a lot of that meeting he was gone from his memory. He had shaken it off to his injuries so it was surprising to hear his voice say unfamiliar words.

 _[But…even if despair is destroyed, that doesn't result in hope. You're only looking at despair. You're not looking at hope!]_

"…even after I died, you were still fighting," murmured Kirigiri.

"Well, yeah. That's right."

For some reason, Naegi had a bad feeling he couldn't really identify.

 _["Shut up! Tengan told me everything.]_

They watched as Minakata continue:

 _[Tengan was telling the truth. Even Yukizome was controlled by despair. She asked me, who would do something like this. The picture told me everything. She did it. Since when? Since when was she despair?]_

As he continued watching Munakata's monologue, Naegi started to feel his memory of the event returning. _'That's right. After that Munakata-san says something about destroying everything then…'_

…Ah

'… _Ah ah!'_

"AH! AH! AH!" Naegi's sudden screams got Kirigiri's attention as she turned to him, confusion in her eyes.

"What is it?" She also sounded somewhat annoyed but him but Naegi couldn't afford to worry about that. He had bigger things to prevent.

"Alter Ego! Stop the video! Stop!" At his words, the video immediately stopped as Alter Ego's head popped up in confusion.

"What's wrong?" asked the AI but before he could say anything else he noticed a certain smile on Kirigiri's face, it was the expression she had whenever she made fun of him.

"…I see. Continue the video, Alter Ego."

"No, don't! You can't Alter Ego!"

The Avatar turned from its head back and forth from the two, virtual tears in its eyes. " . What should I do?"

"Alter Ego. This video is my birthday gift, correct? That means that I can choose what to do with it, right?" The serious tone of Kirigiri was offset by the almost devilish smirk on her lips. It was clear that she was in, as Naegi had dubbed it, her "bully mode".

With one last apologetic look to Naegi, Alter Ego disappeared and the video started playing again.

 _["I will eliminate everything to do with despair? Even memories."]_

Immediately, Naegi tried to take the phone for the phone only to land on face first on the bench as Kirigiri jumped away before he could grab her.

"From your desperation," Kirigiri noted still smirking, "I can deduce that something embarrassing happens after this?"

As Naegi got up, he could see the monitor of the phone and that the camera had somehow and whatever reason zoomed in on the two.

 _["Don't say something like that! Don't say something like you'll eliminate, Yukizome-san!"]_

 _["What would you know? What, what, what would you know?"]_

It was at that point that Munakata had started beating him up and, while Kirigiri watches it with a pained expression, she was still vigilant enough that Naegi still couldn't get the phone from her.

And just now the problematic scene started.

 _["I do know"]_

 _["Even if… Kirigiri-san was in despair…and had betrayed us all…and we had to kill her to stop her, …No matter what happens…"]_

 _[… I'll still be glad to have met Kirigiri-san!"]_

"I'm really sorry but that's all I could finish. Did you find something helpful?

The video stops there, and the apologetic face of Alter Ego shows up again. As for Kirigiri,

"…", She looked at the screen silently, a strange expression on her face. Her cheeks were bright red. Tears lightly spilled from her eyes. Her mouth twisted in both happiness and anger. It was a rare expression of many mixed emotions.

"Kirigiri-san? Can you hear me? Are my speakers on?" Alter Ego's head bobbed n front of the monitor, unsure why there was still no reply.

"…I'm alright Alter Ego. Thank you, it was a nice present." Immediately, her cool expression was back as she watched the AI's avatar smile from the greeting.

Naegi glanced Kirigiri, still not sure how she was feeling, just as she glanced at him. Their eyes met and a small smirk grew on the woman's lips.

"Alter Ego. Please set the last words Naegi-kun said in the video as my phone's message ringtone."

"What?!"

"Leave it to me!" the AI chirped.

"What are you doing Kirigiri-san?!" Naegi cried out. If that got out, if the others heard it, he didn't think he could face them for a while. At his exclamation, Kirigiri just raised an eyebrow?

"Oh? I'd like to listen to such pleasant words regularly. Or ... was it just a lie ? "

"It's not a lie, but ..." Naegi averted his eyes.

"Um, did I do something wrong?" Alter Ego's voice chimes in. The avatar even had the decency to look apologetic. It was like he'd kick a puppy.

"No, Alter Ego. Naegi-kun was just embarrassed." Kirigiri responded but the face on the screen just tilted in confusion

"Embarassed? I don't understand?" It turned to Naegi. "Naegi san, is embarrassing to think that you're glad that you met Kirigiri-san?

"No…well…it's just…to have other people hear me say that.." Naegi rubbed the side of his arm. It wasn't that he was embarrassed of his own words. It was just the thought of it going off anywhere and people hearing it that was the problem.

"But doesn't Naegi-san like Kirigiri-san? So, there's no need to be shy right?"

If he was of the right mental state, Naegi would have found it amazing that even an AI had noticed something like that. However, Naegi just shook his head, an oddly bitter smile on his face.

"Liking someone is more about not being shy Alter Ego. It's an amazing feeling that scares me yet at the same time it gives me courage. Whenever you think about this person, you want to keep her to yourself yet also show the world how amazing she is. It's driven me to despair yet pushes me to hope. I'm sure one day you'll understand. "

The AI tilts it's head, with an unsure look. "I'm don't understand how a feeling could make you do contradictory things, but I'll do my best! I'm glad you believed in me."

"Is there anything else?" Kyoko asked

"Nothing! At all, have a good birthday, Kirigiri-san!" The AI gave one final smile before disappearing to show her home screen.

 **11:59**

 **Omake 2:**

"Kirigiri-san." Hard green eyes stare back at her. " **You've got that wrong!"**

Kyoko blinks in surprise. He rarely used his catchphrase to her so she wasn't used to how…startling it was no matter how many other times she had heart it. "About what Naegi-kun?"

He steps closer to her and she could see a glimpse of hesitation in his eyes that steel into determination. "Your birthday's not over yet. It's still October 6 in some parts of the world."

It was…true. An odd technicality that she hadn't thought about. Still, maybe because she had wanted it to end on her own terms, that Kyoko rebutted. She crossed her arms "Naegi-kun, that's a technicality. The timezone we're in is the most important one."

"That's true." His consent surprised her. She had thought he'd stop and deflate after his one point was there but was it all more than bravado. "But one day, Kirigiri-san and I won't be at the same place anymore. One day, you'll go back to be a detective and going all over the world to solve cases."

"That's…" If she was being honest with herself, she had thought of the idea. No matter what, she loved being a detective. However, she didn't want to leave him. It went against all the Kirigiri doctrines but…at this point, Kirigiri Kyoko was more than just the Ultimate Detective.

"I know Kirigiri-san is torn due to my own proposal. So I want to make my own promise." Naegi's voice draws her attention once more and he's startlingly tall as he plants both feet on the ground and stares her down. Idly, she wondered if this is what Enoshima Junko had felt. "Kirigiri Kyoko, if you would let me, please let me stay by your side."

"…" She wasn't sure what to say to his words because there was nothing to say, if she was always on his side then what difference would this make. Or maybe he had just taken her breath away.

"Kirigiri-san, I…"

She sees it in his eyes, the way it almost felt like they could hold people at gun point with how sharp they sometimes grew, on instinct, she knows she must stop him. Something inside her is screaming at her to stop him before it's too late to come back but Kyoko never liked people who yelled. She liked sweet boys who smiled at her even though she never smiled back. She liked men who are so simple that she never needed to second guess their motives and yet always managed to surprise her.

"Kirigiri-san, I…"

So instead, she gives him an encouraging smile, and readies herself for his confession. Kyoko thinks to herself that, all her reasons before were just excuses as she already knew that she'd walk through the apocalypse with someone like him. What was a less broken world to the unknown one outside that sealed door?

"Kirigiri-san, I love you! Please go out with me upon the pretenses of marriage!"

Her heart, her soul, it felt like a stopper unplugged as her years of training as a Kirigiri become undone and she can't hold back all her feelings. She felt so happy, so relieved, so fucking _hopeful_ , so..

And then her brain catches up to the rest of the words.

Makoto brings out a his final gift, not from his coat but from his pants pocket. He held out a gold ring. "This is my promise of being by your side. Whether your by my side in the school we met or out there being the amazing detective the world needs. If you'd let me, please take this so I could be with you anywhere you go!

She blinks once. Twice. Then she can't blink anymore as the tears in her eyes start flowing. She feels her cheeks about to burst and she couldn't control whatever her mouth was twisted into. So her first response isn't a no or a yes, it's. "…please don't look at my face."

"I'm.,.too happy. My face is too loose." She covers her face with her gloves, ignoring how soaked they were getting. His name pops back into her head and she feels like using it "I can't show such a sloppy face to …Makoto-kun."

She knows he's moving closer with each step but she still stays in place.

"Kyoko-san, your ears are red." If they weren't before, they definitely were now with how her name sounded from his lips."

"Kyoko-san's bold expression." He's practically next to her now. "I want to see it."

"Ah.." His hands wrap around her own as he undoes her self-made seal. Her hands unconsciously grab back.

"I see eyes full of happiness, pretty cheeks, and a smile that I love. Beautiful" And for a moment, his face reenters his vision, she wonders if he's talking about himself because that's all she sees on his face as well

And so, she slips off the glove covering her left hand, to finally, _finally_ , be able to stroke the face of her hope, "Makoto-kun…Yes. Please stay by my side. Forever. With each other, I'm sure we can go anywhere.

There is a single moment of restraint before their lips meet once more, the only witness being the school behind them.


End file.
